Waking Up In Vegas
by Brulian4ever
Summary: Based on the drabble I did for the IPOD Challenge. Song Fic to Katy Perry's 'Waking Up In Vegas'. Puck & Rachel deal with the aftermath of their wild night in Vegas. Puckleberry. Rated M for swearing and sexual context. COMPLETE. EPILOGUE UP
1. Chapter 1

**A/N - OK, so a couple of people asked me to do a full story based on the drabble I did for the IPOD Challenge and I decided to give it a shot. Here's the first chapter. I hope you like it. The IPOD challenge was the first time I even attempted to write a Glee fanfic so this is all still pretty new to me. Let me know what you think. Please, please, please review! **

* * *

**Rachel**

Rachel groaned as she opened her eyes and the sun streaming in from the window hit her face. Rolling over she found herself face to face with a still sleeping Noah Puckerman and almost screamed. What happened last night? She peeked under the covers and her eyes widened when she realized she was naked. She fell back onto the pillow and stared at the ceiling. She had gotten drunk in Vegas and slept with Noah Puckerman. That was just great. Running her hands over her face, she froze. Pulling her hand away, she stared in shocked silence at the simple gold band on her left hand as the previous night came back to her.

"_Noah, we can't go in there. We aren't 21." Rachel tried to pull her hand out of his as he attempted to lead her into a casino. Puck stopped and looked at her as if she was from another planet._

"_Berry, we're in Vegas. We're going to a casino." Puck shook his head and tightened his grip on her hand. "If you don't stop, you're gong to get us caught." He threw his arm around her shoulder, pulling her to his side. "Breathe, it's just a little gambling." Rachel sighed in defeat as Puck lead her inside. She couldn't help but think of the circumstances that had led her here. New Directions has killed at Nationals, winning first prize, so of course everyone was beyond ecstatic. After a celebratory dinner, everyone had scattered to do their own thing, with Mr. Shue's warning not to get into trouble and that everyone was to be at breakfast bright and early the next morning before they caught their flight back to Ohio. Quinn, tired from all the activity, had gone straight back to the hotel with Finn close behind. Mercedes, Britney, Santana, Tina and Kurt had all wanted to go shopping, something that Rachel deeply disliked even on the best day, and she no idea where Artie, Matt and Mike went. That was how she had ended up here, being pulled down the Strip by Noah Puckerman. "Where to first?" Puck tightened his arm around her shoulders and smiled down at her. She shrugged helplessly. She knew absolutely nothing about gambling, she wouldn't even know where to begin. "OK, Craps it is." Puck grinned as he pulled her over to the table and pulled out some money. He placed his bet and grabbed the dice. "Alright, blow Berry." He held the die in front of her and she gave him a funny look before blowing on the two small cubes in his hand. Puck's eyes never left her as he tossed the dice. _

"_Winner!" the dealer cried and Rachel stared in shock as they pushed the chips toward them. _

"_Holy Crap, Berry, I think you're my lucky charm." Puck stared down at her with a smirk and held his hand out again. "Come on, you know the drill." Rachel laughed and blew lightly on his hand before he threw the dice again._

"_Winner!" This time Rachel screamed and threw her arms around Puck's neck. This is how it went for a while and then the casino started giving them complimentary drinks. Rachel's not entirely sure what's in a cosmopolitan but they go down pretty easy, and she's pretty sure she's drunk by the time she and Puck finally cashed out their winnings and stumbled out of the casino._

"_Oh my God, Noah!" Rachel let out breathlessly as she grips his large arm and rests her head against him. "That was amazing. I've never felt a rush like that."_

"_I could give you a rush." Puck spun her easily and she's suddenly pressed against a wall as his hands make a trail down her body. He dipped his head to bury his face in her neck, pressing kiss after kiss onto her skin and she feels like she's on fire. Before she even knows what she's doing, her mouth is seeking his and she crashes her lips against his as he lifts her easily and she wraps her legs around his waist and presses closer to him. He pulls away after a few moments and she pouts instantly missing the feel of his lips on hers. "You wanna get married, Berry?"_

After that she vaguely remembers mumbling 'yes' against Puck's mouth before she attacked his lips again and the two of them finding their way to a chapel. She can't help but cringe a little when the image of Elvis walking her down the aisle flashes through her mind. Oh God, her dads were doing to be so disappointed in her. Her face suddenly flushes as she remembers coming back to the hotel room after. Noah's hands on her body, his lips on her skin. Biting her lip nervously, she turned her head to watch Puck sleeping peacefully next to her. He almost looked like a little boy when he was sleeping. Hesitantly, she reached over and poked him slightly.

"Noah…" Her voice is hoarse but for once she doesn't wonder about her vocal chords because there's so much more important things happening right now. "Noah." She pokes him again, this time a little harder and he lets out a groan as he reaches out to her with one arm, pulling her flush against his body.

"Go back to sleep babe, it's way too early." He murmurs into her hair, kissing her temple and she wonders if he even realizes that it's her who's in bed with him. She doesn't know what to do. They need to talk about this. They need to figure out what the hell they're going to do. But there's a part of her that's tempted to settle into his nice warm embrace and go back to sleep, at least for now. "Berry, I have the hang over to end all hangovers, so can you please not think so loud. I can hear the wheels turning in your head." He tightens his arm around her, kissing her again. She's about to push him away when he starts to hum 'Sweet Caroline' in her ear. Slowly, she feels her eyes start to drift shut and she sinks into him. Just a few more hours and they can deal with everything. It's probably not even legal anyway.

* * *

**Puck**

Puck smiles a little when Rachel relaxes against him. If he's being honest with himself, he's kind of shocked that she gave in that easily. He was expecting a complete classic Rachel Berry diva flip out, especially considering the events of last night. He smirks at the memory of Rachel pressed against him, legs wrapped around his waist. Who knew Rachel Berry was such a little sex fiend. He smirks again and tightens his arm around her tiny waist, pulling her closer.

_You wanna get married, Berry?_

His eyes snap open. What the fuck? His mind suddenly flashes to Rachel walking toward him holding a bouquet with…Elvis? Fuck! No, no, no, no! His mind's just really messed up because of the hangover. He must have dreamt that. It wouldn't have been the first time he dreamt about marry Rachel… shit! Not that he dreams about marrying Rachel and if he does, it's only because his mother's so intent on him ending up with a "nice Jewish girl" and she's pretty much the only one he knows that's even remotely hot.

_Mrs. Puckerman. I like the sound of that, Noah._

He can see Rachel smiling up at him and himself grinning like a big fool as he puts a gold ring on a very important finger of her left hand and he's suddenly very awake. The hangover's still there but it seems not so important. He closes his eyes for a moment, sending a silent prayer to whatever God might be listening at the moment, before slowly looking down at his hand. The gold ring on his left hand practically taunts him. Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck! He looks down at Rachel sleeping soundly in his arms. She obviously hasn't realized what they did last night.

"Oh My God!" Puck jumps and looks to see Kurt standing in the door to the room, his jaw hanging open. "What did you two do?"

"What?" Rachel bolts up into a sitting position, looking around wildly. "What?" Puck looks at her and quickly grabs the sheets, wrapping them around her body. She looks down and flushes as she clutches the sheet to her chest. "Kurt, what the hell are you doing?"

"What am I doing?" Kurt gives her a look as he places a hand on his hip, going into full on diva mode and Puck can't resist rolling his eyes. "This is my hotel room too, Ms. Diva. Thank God I crashed with Tina and Mercedes last night because lord knows what I would have walked in on." He sends a dirty look in Puck's direction but not before giving his bare chest an appreciative once over.

"Whatever Beyonce." Puck tightens the sheet around his waist, suddenly very aware that he's naked. "I suggest you get what you came for and get gone otherwise you might end up seeing the encore."

"Noah!" Rachel slaps his chest and he winces. God for someone so tiny, she sure knows how to pack a punch sometimes.

"What is that?" Kurt's eyes look like their about to pop out of his head and Rachel snatches her hand back, shoving it under the covers. Puck slowly looks at her and then down at her hand, her left hand, which is securely hidden. She lifts her eyes to his momentarily and he knows that she knows.

"Get out." The words come out almost like a growl and Kurt stares at him in shocked silence. "I'm serious Hummell, Rachel and I have to talk, so get out. And if you mention a word of this to anyone, I will throw your ass in a dumpster every day for the rest of the year, got it?"

"Rachel…" Kurt glances at the tiny brunette diva-in-training, who's still clutching the bedding to her.

"Noah and I do have some matters that we need to discuss." She says finally. "And, as for what you inadvertently witnessed this morning, your discretion would be very much appreciated." Kurt purses his lips for a minute before nodding.

"Fine." He grabs his sweater from the back of the chair. "I've gotten what I came for." Kurt stops for a second as he stares at the two of them. "I heard nothing, I saw nothing, I know nothing." He turns on his heel and heads out of the door. "You two better get your story straight pretty quick though. Mr. Shue wants us all at breakfast in a half hour." He throws another look in Rachel's direction before closing the door, leaving the two of them alone. There's silence for a long time after Kurt's gone and to be honest, it's kind of freaking Puck out. Rachel's never this quiet. She certainly wasn't quiet last night, not when they were… Damn it, man! What the hell is the matter with you? Focus! Jesus Christ!

"Rach…" He says tentatively, almost scared that if he speaks to loudly or quickly she'll get spooked and bolt.

"It would appear that last night, in an intoxicated state, you and I…" Rachel begins brushing the hair from her face.

"We got hitched." Puck finishes and she looks at him.

"Well, I wouldn't have worded it quite so eloquently, but yes, we got… hitched." She says the last word as though it leaves a bad taste in her mouth and Puck frowns.

"Gees, Berry, I didn't realize the mere thought of being married to me turned your stomach so much." He says gruffly and throws the sheets off him, grabbing his boxers off the floor and pulling them on. He stands and turn to face her. He's not really sure why he's so angry. She's got every right to be upset. Christ they're married and they're still in high school. Who wouldn't be freaked out about that.

"Noah, no, I…" She starts to move toward him but stops when the bed sheet starts to fall. "Ugh, could you possibly hand me something to put on?" She flushes a little and he stares at her. Is she actually blushing? After what they did last night? He's pretty sure some of the things he did to her are illegal in certain states (he doesn't think they're illegal in Nevada but to be honest he's not really sure). Rolling his eyes, he grabs the shirt he was wearing the night before and tosses it to her. She smiles gratefully and pulls it on (under the sheets) before slowly climbing out of bed and turning to look at him. The sight of her in nothing but his button up dress shirt causes a stirring in his gut. Yes, he realizes that this is not the time to be thinking about this, but regardless of the situation he's still a male in the sexual prime of his life and Rachel Berry is one good looking Jew, who's wearing nothing but HIS shirt; his body's going to react to that god damn it! "Noah, I'm sorry, it wasn't my intention to insult you."

"Yeah, sure…" He jerks his head quickly, running his hand over his Mohawk. "It's cool. I mean, this whole thing is pretty fucked up." She frowns a little a his language and he feels a pang of regret. He knows how much she dislikes swearing. "Um, so what… I mean, you know, what are we going to do about this?" He holds up his left hand and she stares at his ring before looking down at her matching one.

"Well, I had some time to ponder the situation after I came to terms with the events of last night. I think for right now we need to go back to Lima. My dads have a brilliant lawyer and, while I'm sure they'll be disappointed in our actions and the ensuing results of said actions, I'm also certain that they will be able to remedy the situation." She says quickly and for a second she looks like the crazy, obsessed Berry he's used to and for some weird ass reason it comforts him. "I'm sure that this marriage isn't even legal, Noah. I mean, we're in high school and we were clearly inebriated. I'm sure any judge will agree that we were obviously not capable of making sound decisions last night."

"OK." Puck nods slowly. "So, we go back to Lima and talk to your dad."

"Well, we should probably talk to daddy instead of dad." Rachel interrupts. "He's the one that deals with the lawyer. Of course both of them will end up finding out eventually so it probably doesn't matter…" She goes off on another rant about something and Puck just stares at her.

"OK, sure." He says slowly, not completely sure what the hell she's talking about, when it suddenly hits him. "Shit, I'm going to have to tell my mom, aren't I?" He sits down on the bed. "Man, she's gonna be so pissed."

"We could tell them together, if you want?" Rachel sits down next to him, her bare leg brushing against his. "I'm not completely familiar with the phrase but isn't there some sort of 'strength in numbers' saying?" He slowly turns his head to find Rachel watching him with a concerned expression.

"That's sounds like a pretty good plan, Berry." Puck gives her a small smile, which she returns before standing and heading toward the bathroom. "Hey, Rach…" His hand shoots out to grab hers and she turns back to him. "I'm really sorry." She's quiet for a long moment before giving him a small smile.

"While I may not recall every detail, Noah, I am certain that I was a willing participant in everything that happened last night."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N - All I can say is WOW! I have never had a reaction like this one of my stories. When I got home last night and checked my email I was floored. There were almost 100 emails! Reviews, Alerts, Favourites. I was shocked, but also very inspired. The fact that so many people like 'Waking Up In Vegas' is unbelievable. I just didn't expect it. There was no way that I could message everybody, so I thought this would be the best way to do it. Thank you, thank you, thank you! **

**Anyway, on with the story. Here's chapter two. I'm not completely sure about it, but hopefully you guys will like it. One other note: for the purposes of this story Finn is the father of Quinn's baby and not Puck. Enjoy. Please keep reviewing, it keeps me motivated to write more.****

* * *

**

**Puck**

He and Rachel are 15 minutes late to breakfast. They mumble apologies to Mr. Shuester and Ms. Pillsbury before slinking toward the two empty chairs at the end of the table. For reasons that escape him, Puck finds himself pulling out Rachel's chair. Finn and Quinn openly gape at them as Rachel sends him a shy smile and he shrugs before settling into his own chair. He's not really sure why he did it, he just kind of figured he should. Their marriage might not be legal but until a lawyer or judge or someone tells him that, she's still his wife and, you know, he feels like he should be pulling out her chair and shit... he looses all train of thought when he looks across the table to see Kurt giving him some serious stink eyes and Mercedes smirking as though she knows some big secret. What the hell are they looking at? If Beyonce ran his mouth, he was going to get a serious ass kicking. Well, maybe not an actual ass kicking because Hummel's pretty small so that would almost be like beating up a girl but he's definitely getting tossed in a dumpster first thing Monday morning.

"Noah." Rachel's hand on his arm brings him back to reality and he turns to see her shaking her head. The entire table is now flat out gawking, Mr. Shue and Ms. Pillsbury included. He glares across the table one more time before focussing on the food in front of him. Rachel pats his arm gently and begins to eat her breakfast. After a rather awkward breakfast everyone heads back to their rooms to pack. He and Rachel lock eyes for a second when they step off the elevator before Puck heads towards his room and Rachel heads in the opposite direction. He opens the door to the hotel room to find Kurt waiting for him, arms crossed defiantly over his chest.

"Hummel, I'm really not in the mood." He brushes past him and begins gathering his clothes, which are still scattered around the room from the previous night, shoving them haphazardly into his bag.

"What the hell Puckerman?" Kurt's voice is confrontational and Puck slowly looks at him.

"Dude, what's your problem?" Puck stands up, towering over the smaller boy. He almost expects Kurt to cower but instead he raises his head and looks him straight in the eye.

"What are you doing with Rachel?" He asks point blank and Puck's got to give him credit. The kid's got balls.

"I'm not doing anything with Rachel, not that it's any of your business." Puck scoffs before turning away to continue grabbing his clothes.

"This is my business!" Puck looks up to see him dangling Rachel's lilac bra from two fingers. Growling, he grabbed the lingerie and shoved it into his bag. "Rachel and I may not always see eye to eye, but she's still my friend and she doesn't deserve to be treated the way you treat all of your conquests. And I don't know what you told her, but if you lied to her in some way…."

"What?" Puck spins around. "What the hell are you accusing me of? Do you think I tricked her into marrying me so I could get into her pants." His eyes flash angrily. "You don't know a fucking thing, so just stay the fuck out of it." He throws the last of his belongings into his bag and roughly pulls the zipper shut before storming out of the room, slamming the door behind him and leaving a stunned Kurt staring after him.

* * *

**Rachel**

She carefully avoids Quinn's probing eyes as she carefully packs her belongings. "I'm not going to judge you, you know." Quinn's voice is quiet and Rachel freezes in the middle of zipping her suitcase. She lifts her head to find Quinn sitting on the edge of her bed, her hand resting lightly on her protruding stomach, her bag sitting next to her.

"Excuse me?" Rachel's voice cracks a little as she stares at the blonde.

"Puck." Quinn says knowingly. "If you're expecting me to judge you for sleeping with him, I'm not going to and I'm not going to spread this around school if you're worried about that. I already told Santana and Britney to keep their mouths shut too."

"What?" Her eyes widen. "I don't know what… Noah and I…."

"Don't even try to deny it, man hands…" Quinn breaks off for a second. "Sorry. Rachel, you didn't sleep here last night and you and Puck show up late for breakfast looking like… well, looking like you just spent all night having wild sex." Rachel feels her face grow hot and she drops her head a little, turning back to her suitcase. "I'm just saying, I get it. It's Puck."

"What are you saying?" Rachel's head shoots up before she can stop herself. "Have you and Noah…" She can't even finish the sentence and she's choosing to ignore the way her stomach knots at the thought of Quinn and Noah together like that.

"Oh God no!" Quinn shakes her head quickly. "But I do have eyes. He's like sex on a stick. You'd have to be dead not to notice." She slowly gets to her feet and crosses the room slowly to stand in front of Rachel. "Look, this is none of my business. I'm just going to shut up."

"No, it's OK." Rachel shakes her head, lifting her bag from the bed and placing it on the floor. "I guess, considering all of the circumstantial evidence it's sort of pointless to try and deny what happened between Noah and I." She chews her lip nervously as she stares at the pregnant girl in front of her. She's never been one to wish for popularity, she's always been content in knowing that she was meant for greater things than Lima, Ohio, but right now, in this moment, she wishes she had a close girlfriend that she could talk to. She put a brave face on for Noah this morning but the truth is she's really freaking out about this whole thing.

"Like I said, no judgement here." Quinn turns to get her own bag.

"Noah and I got married last night." The words tumble from her mouth and she clasps her hand over her mouth the second they're out almost like she's trying to shove them back in. Quinn spins around, her eyes wide in disbelief, jaw hanging open in a way that is anything but ladylike.

"What?" The pregnant girl shakes her head as if trying to shake something loose. "I must have lost my mind for a second because I thought you just said that you got married last night… to Puck."

"Oh my God!" Rachel collapsed onto the bed, burying her face in her hands. "Quinn, please, you can't tell anyone." She looks up at her desperately. "I don't even know what I told you. I didn't mean to. I just had to tell someone."

"You're serious, aren't you?" Quinn slowly sits on the bed next to her, staring straight ahead. "You and Puck got married last night? When? How?"

"We went to a casino and Noah started winning and they started giving us free drinks…" Rachel paused for a moment as she thought back to the night before. "When we were leaving he kissed me and, when he pulled away, he asked me to marry him and I said yes and here we are." Quinn doesn't say a word she just continues to stare at her. "Noah and I discussed it this morning, and I'm fairly certain that it can be voided rather easily but…"

"But you still pulled a Britney Spears and you're kind of flipping out?" Quinn offers and Rachel can't help but laugh a bit as she looks at her.

"Exactly." She nods, clasping her hands in her lap. "Quinn, I know you and I aren't friends but…"

"I won't breathe a word." Quinn says and Rachel looks at her, surprise written all over her face. "I'm not really in a place to be passing judgment on anyone." She points at her ever expanding stomach while giving Rachel a knowing look. "We should get going." She braces herself to stand and Rachel grasps her arm gently and helps her to her feet. Rachel quickly grabs Quinn's bag and lays it on hers. "Thanks." Quinn smiles and Rachel nods as she rolls both bags toward the door pulling it open. "Listen, Rachel, if you need someone to talk to, you can talk to me." Rachel's face drops in yet another mask of surprise. "When I found out that I was pregnant, I didn't have anyone to talk to. I know you're not in the exact same situation, but still…" Quinn shrugs a little, obviously uncomfortable.

"Thank you Quinn." Rachel flashes her a smile, a real one this time. "I appreciate that."

* * *

**Puck**

He's still fuming when he reaches the lobby. Who the fuck does Hummel think he is? Puck will freely admit that he's capable of a lot of things, but even he wouldn't sink so low as to trick a girl into marrying him just to get into her pants. Besides, he's pretty sure that he would have gotten into Rachel's pants last night anyway, even without the whole wedding thing. _Then why the hell did you do it, dumb ass?_ That stupid little voice in his head (a voice that sounds a lot like Hummel for some reason) says and he mutters some choice swear words as he throws his bag angrily on the floor. It skids to a stop near a pair of white sneakers and Puck looks up to find Finn staring at him. Just fucking great! This is absolutely the last thing he needs right now. Saint Finn. He's probably going to starting cross examining him about Rachel too and the truth is he just can't fucking deal with it right now. His mind is working overtime just trying to process the fact that he got married, so he really doesn't have the patience or energy to justify himself to Finn. Why the fuck does Finn even care anyway? He's got Quinn. Rolling his eyes, he grabs his bag and heads toward the door.

"Did you sleep with her?" Finn's voice causes him to stop dead in his tracks and he slowly turns to look at his best friend, who's eyes are blazing with obvious jealousy. Puck can only imagine what would happen if he told Finn what really happened last night. If he's this worked up over the fact that Puck _might _have slept with Rachel, what would he do if he found out they had eloped. He's also trying not to think about the fact that somewhere between last night and this morning, he stopped thinking of her as 'Berry' and started thinking of her as Rachel.

"How is this your business?" Puck eyes him scornfully before rolling his eyes one more time. "Shouldn't you be more concerned about your pregnant girlfriend, than what Rachel and I do?" Finn opens his mouth to retort but Puck stops listening when the elevator doors open and Rachel steps out pulling her suitcase and Quinn's. He throws a quick glance at Quinn, who's watching him with an expression that almost looks like understanding. Pushing past Finn, he makes his way towards the two girls. "Hey, let me help you." He reaches for Rachel's bag and she smiles up at him. A moment ago he was completely livid and ready to pound the crap out of anyone who looked at him sideways but somehow one smile from Rachel Berry and he's completely calm. That shit can't be normal.

"I'm going to go talk to Finn." Quinn grabs her bag and Rachel starts to protest. "I got it. We'll talk later." She throws a look in Puck's direction before heading off toward the tall baritone.

"What the hell was that about?" Puck stares after her.

"Please don't be mad at me, Noah." The tone in Rachel's voice causes him to spin back to her quickly. She's chewing on her bottom lip, something he knows she only does when she's nervous (don't ask him how he knows that, he just does).

"Rachel, what could be worse than what's already done?" He nudges her playfully, trying to get a smile because truthfully he doesn't know what else to do. She sort of looks like she's going to cry.

"I told Quinn." She lifts her eyes to his and his face drops is disbelief. "I'm sorry. I know I should have discussed it with you first. All of this affects you as well. I realize that it's probably better that the less people who know about this the better and I know that didn't have any right to tell her but I just needed to tell someone…" She swipes at her face quickly. Fuck! She's crying. Damn it! He may be a badass but he still can't handle seeing a girl cry.

"Shh, Rach, it's OK." He wraps his arms around her a little hesitantly. "It's OK, really."

"Puck, what did you do to her?" He's suddenly being pulled away from Rachel and he stumbles back a few feet to see Finn hunched over in front of her. Puck feels a whole knew rush of anger flow through him as he stares at Finn's back. "Rachel, you can talk to me. If he took advantage of you…" Something inside of him snaps when he sees Finn reach out to tuck a piece of hair behind her ear. Son of a bitch!

"Of course not, Noah would never…" He doesn't give Rachel the chance to finish her sentence as he pulls Finn away from her and shoves him hard.

"What the hell?" Finn stares at him with that stupid look he gets and the sight only angers Puck more. "You got a problem, Puck?"

"Yeah, I got a problem! You!" Puck shoves him again, much harder and the taller boy stumbles back. "Keep your fucking hands to yourself and stay the hell away from my wife!"


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N - Again, guys, I can't thank you all enough for the reviews. Please keep it up. The more you review, more inspired I am to keep writing. Here's chapter three, I had a difficult time writing this, simply because I knew what I wanted the chapter to be but just couldn't get the words out. Anyway, I think it turned out OK. I don't know. Hopefully you guys like it too. **

**As always, I own nothing. Please review. **

* * *

**Puck**

_Keep your fucking hands to yourself and stay the hell away from my wife!_

He regretted the words the moment they left his mouth. He steals a glance at Rachel and finds her staring at him, her hand over her mouth in shock, eyes wide. Damn it. He doesn't even know where the hell that came from. It was just the sight of Finn mauling his Rachel that caused him to snap. OK, he'll admit that 'mauling' might be a bit of a stretch but, whatever, that shit's still not kosher.

"Oh God!" He hears Kurt's high pitched squeal and suddenly wants to crawl into a hole. Well, it's not like this day could get any worse. Sighing, he slowly turns to see the entire Glee club staring at him with their jaws hanging open. Ms. Pillsbury looks concerned and Mr. Shue just looked stunned.

"Wife?" Finn's voice causes Puck to look back at him. "What are you talking about?" Puck can't resist rolling his eyes at the sheer stupidity of the boy in front of him. "Rachel, what is he talking about?" Finn looks to her and she throws a quick glance at Puck before looking back at Finn. He gapes at her before looking back at Puck. "You got married?!" The actual words seem to bring the group out of their shock and suddenly the entire group is buzzing. Kurt immediately beelines directly for Rachel, who is currently clutching Quinn's hand, her eyes darting between the two boys. He slides his arm around her shoulder and she sends him a grateful look.

"Damn, I just thought you two did the nasty last night." Mercedes is the first one to speak. "You know like a quickie, not a quickie wedding." She looks from Puck to Rachel and back again. Rachel ducks her head, her cheeks flushing red and Puck he throws Mercedes a death look, reminding himself that he's not aloud to hit a girl. He sees Santana reach for her cell and he's about to rip the thing from her hand and crush it when Quinn appears next to her. She says something under her breath and the Latina cheerleader throws her a look before crossing her arms in a huff and Quinn tosses the phone in her purse.

"Di….Di….Did you guys really get mar….mar….married?" Tina's voice is barely audible.

"He obviously got her drunk and took advantage of the situation!" Finn sneers and Puck's hand involuntarily curls into a fist at his side. "I mean, how else would he convince Rachel to _marry _him!"

"You know what, Finn…" Puck begins but is cut off by Rachel stepping in between the two boys, eyes blazing.

"How dare you say such a thing Finn Hudson?" Her hand flies out and connects with Finn's cheek. Puck's eyebrows raise in surprise. "And about the person you claim to be is your best friend! Noah did not force me to do anything nor did he take advantage of me. He has been nothing but understanding through this entire situation and has been more concerned about me than about himself." Finn opens his mouth to speak but Rachel keeps right on going. "And I can assure you that I don't regret _anything _that happened last night." Yeah, even someone as slow as Finn can't miss the obvious meaning behind 'anything' and Puck would have laughed at the stupid expression on Finn's face, except he's pretty sure he's wearing a similar one. Did Berry really just say that?

"All of you stop!" The entire group freezes. Mr. Shue's face is red and for a second Puck wonder's if maybe he's having a heart attack or something. "The rest of you outside now." His eyes widen a little at the tone in Mr. Shue's voice. "Now!" Mr. Shue sends a look at the group and they slowly begin to head toward the door. Ms. Pillsbury frowns but thankfully doesn't say anything before ushering the others toward the door. As the Glee kids file past him, Santana leans over to Britney. He's pretty sure he hears her whisper 'shot gun wedding' and scowls in her direction. He doesn't give two shits what Santana says about him, but Rachel doesn't deserve that. Of course, that's the moment that Finn decides to storm past him muttering under his breathe about Puck preying on her and talking sense into Rachel and Puck can't stop himself from lunging at him. Before he knows what's happening he's tackling his friend to the ground and Mr. Shue and Mike are trying to pull them apart.

"You better learn to keep your mouth shut, Hudson, or I'll shut it for you permanently." He struggles against Mr. Shue's hold. He wants nothing more than to pound his stupid face right now.

"Noah." Rachel's voice somehow breaks through the chaos. Everything stops. She slowly approaches him, her eyes pleading with him silently. He throws another glare at Finn before shrugging Mr. Shue off. Rachel places a tiny hand on his arm and he looks down at her.

"I'm sorry." He murmurs as she folds herself into his arms and he holds her tight against his chest, resting his cheek on her head. He doesn't really know what the hell is going on with them but the fact is they're in this together now… till death do they part apparently.

* * *

**Rachel**

She breathes a sigh as Puck's arms wrap around her and suddenly she feels safe again. Quinn and Kurt have been really great to her but Puck's the only person who really understands what she's going through because he's going through it too. She presses herself closer to him.

"So, you don't regret last night, huh? I knew you couldn't resist my badassness, Berry." He whispers and his large body rumbles as he laughs. She swats at his chest but finds herself chucking a little. She glances up at him and shakes her head before burying herself in his chest again. Only Noah could possibly make her laugh right now.

"I said out!" Mr. Shue says again. "You three too!" Rachel lifts her face from Puck's chest and looks to see Kurt, Quinn and Finn all still standing there.

"Mr. Shue…" Finn starts and she feels Puck tense under her hands.

"Finn, come on." Quinn grabs his hand and tugs him toward the door, shooting a sympathetic look toward Rachel. Reluctantly, Finn allows her to pull him outside but not before throwing a dirty look in Puck's direction.

"Kurt, outside, now." Mr. Shue says seriously but Kurt simply crosses his arms and shakes his head.

"I'm not leaving Rachel, Mr. Shuester." He says matter-of-factly and Rachel pulls away from Puck slightly but not completely.

"Kurt, I love you for wanting to protect me, but it's OK. I'll be fine, I promise." She tells him gently and he frowns for a moment before lifting his Prada bag and slinging it over his shoulder.

"I will be right outside if you need me." He frowns again before heading out the door. Mr. Shue waits until Kurt's gone before turning back to them.

"So, which one of you wants to tell me what happened?" He looks at the two of them and Rachel moves closer to Puck, moulding herself into his side. His hand subconsciously rubs her arm in a soothing motion that she finds oddly comforting.

"Well, Mr. Shuester, as you know, winning Nationals has been all of our dreams for so long…" She begins. "So, obviously, Noah and I were still feeling the excitement of that win after dinner when we all decided to part company. Circumstances that were really beyond our control lead us to a cross roads…"

"We got married." Puck interrupts and she stares up at him as though he some sort of traitor. "I said exactly what you were going to say, Berry, I just said it with a lot less words." Mr. Shue sighs heavily and rubs his hands over his face before looking back at the two of them.

"Mr. Shuester, please don't concern yourself too much about Noah and I. My dads have a fantastic lawyer and I'm sure that we get this taken care of immediately. We're high school students, obviously getting married in Vegas when you're a senior in high school can't be legal." Rachel rambles and Mr. Shue stares at the two of them.

"How ol…" He begins but stops when he looks at his watch. "You know what, we don't have time to talk about this right now. We have to catch a plan but we're calling your parents the moment we land." He tells them sternly. "Get your stuff." Neither Rachel or Puck move. "Go." He nods toward the door. Puck quickly gathers both of their bags and subconsciously places his hand on the small of her back as he leads her toward the door with Mr. Shue close behind them. The entire Glee club is staring at them when the step outside. "Alright, I realize that everyone would love to stand here and discuss Rachel and Puck's… news but we have a plane catch. Cabs now!"

"Come on." Puck grabs both of their bags in one hand and her hand in the other and she allows him to pull her toward the last cab in the line. He throws both of their luggage in the trunk as she reaches for the back door but Puck beats her to it.

"Thank you Noah." She looks up at him with a smile. Because for all of his bravado, she knows there's more to Noah Puckerman. She's seen it, granted very briefly, but she's seen it and sometimes she wishes he would let other people see it. She's about to slide into the car when she glances over her his shoulder to see Finn about to make his way toward them and she feels her stomach knot. Suddenly Kurt appears in front of her.

"Hello Newlyweds." Rachel flushes a little and a look flashes across Puck's face that she can't quiet interpret. She watches him for a second before patting his hand, which is resting on top of the open car door. They hold on for a fraction of a second too long and she notices Kurt eying them with fascination. "I just wanted to let you two know that the Finn situation is taken care of. Quinn and I saw him coming over her so she's gone to run interference. No one needs to deal with his temper tantrums right now." Kurt rolls his eyes.

"Thank you Kurt." Rachel smiles at him gratefully. "That is very much appreciated, right Noah?" She looks up at him expectantly and he stares at her for a second.

"Right, yeah, sure…" He practically grunts. "Thanks Hummel." He looks away and runs his hand over his Mohawk, an action that she is quickly realizing is almost like a nervous tick or something. He only does it when he's nervous or uncomfortable she's noticed.

"But of course." Kurt does a half bow and she can't help but laugh at him while Puck just eyes him as though he's completely crazy. "Anyway, I'm riding with you two." He eyes the trunk of the car disdainfully and clutches his bag to his chest. "Well, there's no way I'm putting Prada in there. Looks like the bag's staying with me. Out of the way, ladies first." He squeezes between them and slides into the back seat of the cab." The two of them stare at him for a second before looking at each other.

"Um, so I guess if you want to ride in the back with Hummel, I'll take the front." Puck shrugs a little.

"Ugh!" Quinn suddenly comes storming toward them.

"Quinn, are you OK?" Rachel's eyes immediately widen. "Is it the baby?"

"What?" Quinn looks at her as though she's speaking a foreign language. "No, it's Finn. He's just so…." She lets out another groan of frustration. "I'm riding to airport with you three, because I can't stand to be around him right now." Quinn climbs into the front seat and shuts the door. The two of them stare at each other for a second before Rachel turns and gets into the car, sliding over next to Kurt as Puck squeezes himself in next to her. Considering Puck's size it probably would have been better had he taken the front seat but she's not really complaining when she finds him pressed tightly against her in the confines of the back seat. In fact, she finds it quite nice. She bites her lip. That's a new development she wasn't expecting but she's not even attempting for figure out it means right now. She sucks in a sharp breath when she feels him brush against her as he tries to get comfortable and her whole body tingles. Kurt gives her a funny look before leaning forward to look at Puck shifting around and he smirks at Rachel. Finally Puck stops moving and she assumes he's found a position that works for him, kind of on an angle with one arm thrown across the backseat behind her head. It's almost an hour drive to the airport and about 15 minutes in, Rachel finds herself struggling to keep her eyes open. She's just about to nod off when Puck's arm slides down and around her shoulders, pulling her to him.

"You're exhausted, baby, go to sleep." He whispers, dropping a kiss on the top of her head. She's too tired to even begin to think about what this means, so she settles herself against him, resting her head against his chest as he envelops her in both arms. She listens to his heart beating and after a few moments his breathing starts to even out and she realizes he's sleeping too. She snuggles closer and she can't help but smile a little when he unconsciously tightens his arms around her. She's dead to world within minutes so she doesn't see the Quinn and Kurt watching the two of them or the look they exchange before settling back in their seats.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N - OK, you guys, over 100 reviews and only three chapters in. I can't tell you how much that means to me. Thank you all so so so much for your kind words and support. I actually really like this chapter and I hope you do too. As always, I own nothing - God knows I wish I owned Mark Salling, but alas it's not meant to be LOL. Let me know what you think, please review!**

**Rachel**

"_God damn Berry, where the hell have you been my whole life?" Puck's breath tickled her skin as he whispered in her ear, causing her whole body to shudder. _

"_It's Puckerman now." She breathed and he pulled away to look at her with hooded eyes._

"_Fuck, that may have been the hottest thing I've ever heard." He pushed her gently against the wall of the elevator and captured her mouth with his. His tongue slid across her teeth, asking for access, which she willing gave and his hands held her face as he deepened the kiss to the point where she was sure her legs were going to buckle underneath her. The elevator decided to ding at the moment and Puck reluctantly tore his lips from hers as the doors opened. They stood staring at each other for a brief moment, chests heaving, before Puck grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the elevator and down the hall. She wound her hands around his waist and rested her cheek against his back as he struggled with the door and then suddenly she finds herself in the room, pressed against the closed door and Puck's lips come crashing down on hers again. She moaned against his mouth, which in turn elicited a smirk from Puck. His hands grip her hips gently, pulling her closer. He thrusts his pelvis against her a little roughly. She pressed herself closer to him, trying to do something, anything, to alleviate the throbbing sensation between her legs. His hands slide to her backside and for the second time that night he lifted her and she linked her legs securely around his waist. Her eyes rolled back in her head as he rubbed against her. _

"_Noah…" She practically cried against his mouth and he let out a loud moan as he rocks his hips against her one more time before swiftly moving them towards the bed. She doesn't even realize what's happening until he lowers her gently back onto the bed following quickly as his large body covers her smaller one. Her hands immediately reach for his hips and pull him closer, lifting her own and grinding against him. He groaned and dropped his head onto her shoulder, burying his face in her neck._

"_Fuck! You keep that shit up, Berry, and this is going to be over before it starts." He mutters in her ear, breathing heavy. _

"_I already told you, it's Puckerman." She nips at his ear and he pulls away to stare at her, his eyes clouded over with lust. _

"_Damn straight it' s Puckerman." He ground his pelvis against her causing her to let out a strangled moan. "You're all mine now." For reasons that she can't explain, hearing him claim her like that turns her on in ways she never thought possible and she aggressively thrusts her hips up again as his mouth descends on hers, capturing her lips in a searing kiss. They break away panting and Puck rests his forehead against her for a moment, their eyes locked. Nervously, she reaches between them and fumbles with the buttons of his shirt. After two buttons, his larger hands still her movements and she looks up at him to find him smiling down at her. His eyes never leave hers as he finishes unbuttoning the shirt and it hangs open. She can't help but involuntarily lick her lips at the sight of his broad, tanned chest. She gently runs her fingers over his skin, eliciting another moan from him and causing him to practically the rip the shirt from his body and toss it over his shoulder. _

_Lifting her eyes back to his face she grips the bottom of her shirt and pulls it over her head in one quick motion. Puck's breath hitches at the sight of her lilac lace bra and the little of bit of restraint he seemed to have seems to officially be gone. In what seems like one quick motion he strips her bra, skirt and panties and she lays there staring up at him with wide eyes, physically quivering with want as he pushes his dress pants off and settles himself on top of her again. Her legs fall open and she can feel him brushing against her, so close yet still so far. She bucks her hips against him causing him to growl and slam his mouth down on hers again. Almost reluctantly, he tears his lips from hers and she's about to protest when he pulls her legs up around his waist, gripping her thighs so forcefully that she'll be shocked if she doesn't have marks in the morning. He pushes forward slowly and her eyes widen as he fills her and Puck's eyes roll back in his head as the sensation overwhelms him. His eyes finally focus again as he looks down at her, brushing her hair from her face and pressing a soft kiss on her mouth. "I love you Rachel." He murmurs against her mouth as he begins to move within her. _

Rachel's eyes flew open.

"Pleasant dream?" She looks to her right to see Kurt smirking at her. Right, the plane. They were on the plane. Heading back to Ohio.

"I'm quite sure I don't know what you're talking about." She tries to sound normal, but her voice is shaking a little and Kurt raises one perfectly sculpted eyebrow in her direction.

"Really?" He leans closer, lowering his voice. "Because those little noises you were just making certainly say otherwise." Rachel's cheeks turn multiple shades of red and she purposefully avoids Kurt's gaze. "I don't know if this makes you feel any better, darling, but your hubby over there certainly seemed to enjoy the show." She quickly looks to her left and sees Puck watching her from across the aisle with heated eyes. The intensity causes her to flush again and she looks away. "For a second I thought he was going to throw you over his shoulder and take you to the back to have his way with you."

"Kurt, I seriously doubt that Noah would throw me over his shoulder to take me anywhere." Rachel scoffed, her voice barely a whisper, shaking her head, mostly to try and erase the memory of that dream. Except, it wasn't just a dream. Initially, she could barely remember anything from last night and now... well now apparently she can remember everything, in excruciating detail. Her cheeks flush again as the image of Noah moving on top of her floats across her mind, his rough hands gently stroking her, his breath on her skin as he kissed almost every inch of her body.

* * *

**Puck**

He can't figure out what the hell she's doing? Is she trying to actually drive him insane. Because if that's what she's trying to do, she's succeeding. They were seated opposite each other on the plane, both in the aisle seat. About 30 minutes into the flight he hears what sounds like a whimper and he looks over to see Rachel Berry asleep and having what is without a doubt a sex dream. He sat there shocked for a good 15 minutes, trying to ignore the whimpers and giggles and once he was sure he heard a flat out moan. It wasn't until he heard her mutter 'Noah' under her breath did he really feel the pain. It took everything in him not to shake her awake and take her right then and there in the middle of the plane, spectators and all. The fact that she had been dreaming about him, well, he's not going to lie it totally stroked his ego a bit and reinforced his status as a stud. She wakes up with a start and he can tell that she's out of sorts. He watches Kurt whisper something to her and she looks at him for a second before blushing and looking away. He can't help but chuckle a little at the situation. She's his wife for fuck's sake and she's sitting across the aisle giggling like school girl because she had a naughty dream about him. How fucked up is that? _That's because she is a school girl, idiot_. The voice in his head says (the voice that still sounds like Kurt and he's not really sure what the hell is up with that. When did Hummel become his conscious?).

"So, how does it feel?" He looks up as Quinn sits down next to him.

"Feel? What?" For a split second he thinks she's talking about the erection he got from listening to Rachel moan in her sleep.

"Being married, hello?" Quinn looks at him with a peculiar expression and he visibly breathes a sigh of relief. Wow, thank god that's what she meant, because that would have been a really weird conversation to have with a pregnant chick.

"We're not really married Fabray." He rolls his eyes and steals another glance at Rachel, who's watching them with interest. Suddenly Kurt's head pokes out from behind her and he quickly looks away. "I mean, it's Vegas."

"Well, in the eyes of the State of Nevada you're man and wife" Quinn gives him a look and he narrows his eyes in her direction. Why the hell is she still talking to him. It's not like they're really friends. It's at that moment that Rachel decides to get up, just as the plane jostles a bit and before he knows what's happening, Rachel is planted firmly in his lap.

"Oh my God." She turns red again and he wonders how it's possible for one girl to blush so much. Of course, he's actively choosing not to think about the fact that he kind of likes fact that he makes her blush. "I'm so sorry Noah. I wasn't expecting turbulence when I stood up. I promise to try and be more conscientious for the rest of the flight."

"No worries Rach. You're pretty tiny so I think I can handle it." He grins at her a little suggestively and Rachel flushes again before getting to her feet and heading toward the bathroom at the back of the plane. Puck watches her walk away, admiring her long legs in that tiny skirt. He had to admit it, his wife was pretty hot. He also really needs to stop referring to her as his wife or this shit is going to get more complicated than it already is.

"Rach?" Quinn's voice causes him to snap back to reality. "Yeah, there's absolutely nothing going on there." The words are dripping in sarcasm and Puck scowls at her. She gives him a sweet smile before heading back to her seat and Puck mutters a few swear words. Rachel returns a few minutes later and he looks (gapes) at her when she sits down next to him.

"I noticed that Quinn had vacated this seat so I thought that perhaps you wouldn't mind the company." She stares at her hands, clasps tightly in her lap, for a second before looking up at him and he feels that familiar stirring in his gut.

"Sure, whatever." He shrugs and looks away. Out of the corner of his eye he saw her face fall and instantly feels like he's been punched in the stomach.

"I'm sorry, you probably just want to be alone." She hesitates for a second before starting to stand and his hand shoots out to grab her before she can leave.

"I'm sorry Rach. I didn't mean to…" He trails off and gently tugs on her hand, nodding to seat next to him. "Sometimes I just…shit…."

"It's OK. Today has been a rather stressful day for all of us." She smiles before curling up in the seat next to him, resting her head against the back and turning toward him. "But don't swear, Noah, it's very unbecoming."

"Man, you're really taking this whole role of wife to heart aren't you?" He glares at her playfully and she turns bright red again causing him to laugh and she reaches out and slaps his arm lightly.

"Stop laughing at me Noah Puckerman." She swats him again and he looks down at her pitiful attempt to scold him.

"And who's doing to stop me, you?" He eyes her and her face drops in mock anger as she reaches out to slap him again but this time he catches her hand mid air and he gently tugs her so her upper body is flush against his. "And you need to stop hitting me. Violence is not the answer, Berry." He smirks at her but the smirk slowly fades as she stares up at him. His eyes flick to her lips and he finds himself unconsciously licking his own. He's about to lower his head when he suddenly remembers where they are. Sighing he drops a kiss on her forehead. She looks up at him confused, and a little hurt, and he immediately pulls her toward him, enveloping her in his arms. She tenses for a second before getting comfortable and snuggling closer to him. "So, care to tell me about that dream you were having earlier?" He murmurs into her ear and she audibly gasps as she stares up at him in shock and he can't help but chuckle a little as she turns a shade of crimson he's never seen and buries her face in his chest.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N - Hey guys! I seriously can't thank you enough for all of the reviews. I am honestly still shocked by the response this story has gotten. Sorry I haven't posted in a few days. But here it is! Chapter 5. I didn't know the names of Rachel's fathers (were they ever mentioned on the show?) so I just made up my own. I'm a little nervous about this chapter, so I really, really hope you guys like it. I wrote and rewrote ituntil I just co uldn't stare at the screen anymore. Please, please, please review! **

* * *

**Puck**

"Mr. and Mr. Berry, Mrs. Puckerman, thank you all for coming down here on such short notice." Mr. Shuester says with a friendly, but cautious, smile and motions toward the chairs in front of his desk.

"Well, we have to admit that we were surprised that you wanted to see us." One of Rachel's dads says glancing at Rachel before looking back at Mr. Shue. "We can only assume that something happened while on the trip and if that's the case we sincerely apologize. Our Rachel has never been on to get in trouble but I suppose it was bound to happen eventually."

"Noah…" His mom frowns in his direction. He hates it when she looks at him like that. She's the only person in his life that believes he can have more in his life than Lima, Ohio and he hates disappointing her. He drops his head in shame and shoves his hands in his pockets.

"Would someone please tell us what is going on?" Rachel's other dad speaks up and he feels Rachel stiffen a little next to him. The moment of truth. Fuck. He suddenly feels like throwing up and mentally prepares himself for one of her dads to attack him the moment the truth comes out. He certainly won't enjoy it but he understands. He's not exactly the guy that a father wants his teenage daughter to bring home for dinner - let alone be married to.

"Daddy, please don't be mad." Rachel whispers and she almost sounds like a little girl. He looks at her to find her staring at her fathers, silently pleading with them to understand. "Noah and I… we have to tell you something."

"Are you pregnant?" His mom gasps into her hand and the whole room looks at her. If only. He never thought he'd see the day where he wished he was telling his mom that he knocked a girl up. He suddenly has a flash of him and Rachel in bed. Fuck! Did they use protection? He can't remember.

"No, Mrs. Puckerman, I'm not pregnant…." Rachel says slowly, glancing up at him, chewing on her bottom lip nervously. "Last night, after celebrating New Directions' win, Noah and I…" She trails off, looking up at him.

"I asked Rachel to marry me." He speaks up and the whole room goes silent.

"What?" His mom stares at him in confusion. "You asked her marry…"

"And it would seem that I said yes." Rachel cringes a little as she looks at her fathers who haven't reacted one way or another. In fact they haven't even moved, and it's kind of freaking him out.

"I… I don't understand." One of her fathers slowly stands to look at the two of them and Rachel kind of shrinks behind him a little. Instinctively, he slides his arm around her and pulls her to him; an act that in retrospect he probably shouldn't have done because her dad is staring at his arm as though he wants rip it out of its socket.

"David." Her other dad gently places a hand on his partner's shoulder and shakes his head.

"You talk to her, Andrew, because I can't look at her right now." David Berry looks away and Rachel's other dad, Andrew, sighs before turning to face them.

"How did this happen?" He turns his head toward Mr. Shuester and eyes him hard. "I thought you were supposed to be their chaperon."

"Dad, it's not Mr. Shuester's fault." Rachel speaks up. "He didn't know until this morning. Noah and I went to casino last night and…"

"A casino? So you were gambling underage?" David's head shoots up and he eyes Puck in disdain before his eyes land on Rachel.

"Well, yes…" Rachel breaks off for a second. "And then the casino gave us complimentary drinks and I had never had a cosmopolitan before…"

"You were gambling **and **drinking?" Her father's voice raises another octave and Puck drops his head, looking at Rachel.

"Stop talking." He hisses under his breath and she looks at him, slightly surprised.

"Rachel, what were you thinking?" Andrew looks at her with disappointment in his eyes and it's Rachel's turn to drop her head in shame. Hmm, guess he's not the only one who hates letting a parent down.

"I know Dad, and I'm sorry." She peers up at him with those big eyes of hers and he's shocked that her dads don't forgive her on the spot because God knows he doesn't think he'd be able to stay mad at her if she looked at **him** like that. "But, I thought that we could just talk to the lawyer on Monday. I mean, we're in high school so it's not legal. It's not real. We're not really married."

"You're 18, Rachel!" David Berry suddenly explodes and Rachel jumps a mile, shrinking even further into his side. "High School or not, this marriage is very real and it's very legal!" His voice echoes through the tiny room.

"OK, obviously emotions are running very high and perhaps it would be best if we all just took a little break, got some air." Ms. Pillsbury steps in trying to diffuse the situation.

"How could you possibly be so irresponsible? How could not think about the consequences of your actions? What about your future?" He keeps on going as though she never said anything and Rachel sinks further into Puck's side and she looks like she's about to break into tears at any second.

"Hey, stop yelling at her." Puck's eyes widen. That's his voice. What the fuck? He gently removes Rachel from his arms before turning to face her father. What the fuck is he doing? "Don't you think she feels bad enough? Yelling at her is not going to help this situation. We get it, OK. We fucked up!" Ah, shit. He just swore at Rachel's father. _Great way to win over the in-laws, Pukerman. _Kurt's voice echoes in his mind. Man, he is so throwing Hummel in a dumpster the next time he sees him, maybe that will get him out of his head.

"Excuse me?" David Berry stares at him in shocked disbelief and Puck doesn't really blame him. Hell, he can't even that just happened and he's the one that said it.

"I'm sorry Mr. Berry." He ran his hand over his Mohawk nervously. "That was out of line."

"You're damn right it was out of line." David Berry eyes him. "This whole situation is you're fault." He hears Rachel gasp behind him and reaches one hand back to her, which she grips tightly. "I mean, obviously it wasn't Rachel's idea to go to a casino and get drunk."

"Are you blaming this all on, Noah?" Puck's eyes widen as his mom stands up and he winces a little when he sees that look in her eyes. She's in full on mama bear mode now. It doesn't happen often but when it does, it's kind of scary.

"I don't see any other juvenile delinquents in this room." David Berry stands toe to toe with his mother, who kind of looks like she's about to deck Rachel's dad. "I realize that an ill-conceived teenage marriage isn't going to do anything to hinder your son's stellar career at Burger King, but our Rachel is going places." Puck drops his head. He's not surprised. He knows how he must look to Rachel's dads but that shit still stings.

"Daddy!" His head shoots up at the sound of Rachel's voice and he turns to find her staring at her father as though she's looking at a stranger. "This isn't just Noah's fault. I am just as responsible as he is. Noah has been nothing but concerned about me this whole time." Rachel glances slowly at his mother. "This is probably not the best time to say this but, you have raised a wonderful man, Mrs. Puckerman." She shoots a glance in his direction and Puck continues to stare at her in open awe. "He may a bit rough around the edges." She pauses for a second and Puck can't do anything but gape at her. "And, yes, he does have some personality traits that are, well, an acquired taste shall we say but he can also be one of the kindest people I've ever known." He averts his eyes when her eyes meet his, mostly because he doesn't know what to say or do. How can she possibly think that about him after the way he's treated her over the years. "And Dad, Daddy, I realize that given Noah's appearance, it's natural to make certain assumptions about him…" She pauses again. "I'm ashamed to admit that I was quick to pass judgement on him initially, but that was before I got to know him. He is amazingly talented and while his grades could certainly be better, it's not because he's not smart, he just doesn't apply himself, and that's mostly because he doesn't see the amazing potential he has. You may not believe it, but I am certain that Noah Puckerman is meant to do great things in this world." The room is dead silent when Rachel stops talking. Mr. Shue is staring at her in shocked silence. Ms. Pillsbury eyes are darting back and forth between the two of them like she wants to say something. Both of Rachel's fathers are staring at her with expressions that he can't quite interpret.

He slowly turns his head to look at his mother and finds her staring at Rachel as though she's the answer to all of her prayers and he groans quietly under his breath. Seriously, he's already having trouble not blurring the lines when it comes to Rachel. Especially when all he wants to do is grab her and kiss like there's no tomorrow because no one has ever stood up for him like that before and it's making him feel things that he knows for a fact he's not aloud to feel and it's becoming way too easy to picture waking up next to her for the rest of his life (it was especially easy when she was curled up in his arms for most of the flight - where she fit perfectly he might add. Seriously, every one of her curves fits him like a glove. It's almost like she was made to be wrapped around him - what the fuck is that about?). So obviously, he really doesn't need his mom getting all attached to her because, sure this marriage might be legal right now, but he's pretty damn sure it won't be for long. Her dads are going to make sure of that as soon as possible. He slowly pulls his eyes away from his mother and they land on Rachel, who's staring up at him, practically gnawing on her bottom lip.

"Rach… I…" The words get stuck in his throat. She gives him a small smile before dropping her head and he continues to stare at her for another second before shoving his hands back in his pockets and letting his gaze land on the floor.

"OK, obviously everyone is very on edge right now. I think that we all just need to take a step back." Ms. Pillbury tries again. "Mr. Berry, you are understandably upset. The kids know they made a mistake but that's what kids do, they makes mistakes."

"Yes, you're right. This is a very tense situation." Andrew Berry says quietly, nodding. "Mrs. Puckerman, David and I sincerely apologize." He looks at Puck's mother briefly. "Obviously, both of the kids made this decision and it was wrong to place the blame the solely on your son."

"Yes, I was out line." David Berry turns to Puck and he almost takes a step back. Rachel's dad isn't a big man, but he's still expecting one of them at least make a grab at him. Fuck, he's the punk with a Mohawk that married their daughter in Vegas; if he was in their shoes he'd swing first and ask questions later. "I apologize, Noah. I shouldn't have been so quick to pass judgement on you, considering that I myself have been the recipient of snap judgements because of my lifestyle." Puck doesn't say anything as he stares at Rachel's father.

"We'll call our lawyer first thing Monday morning and see needs to be done in order to have the marriage annulled." The other Mr. Berry speaks. "For now, I think it's best if we all just go home. Rachel, get your things." Rachel hesitates for a second, her eyes darting up to Puck. She opens her mouth to say something but closes it again, looking away. He watches her for a second before picking her bag up off the floor and setting it on it's wheels, pulling the handle up and holding out to her. He gives her a half smile and shrugs when she eyes him curiously. After what she just did for him, he figures it's the least he can do.

* * *

**Rachel**

"I guess I'll see ya, Berry." Puck gives her a small (almost embarrassed) small as he holds her bag out to her and she has to fight the urge the urge to throw her arms around him and tell him that her last name is Puckerman now. That would just make everything awkward and her daddy may just completely blow a gasket. Of course, everything is already more than a bit awkward considering her little, OK huge, outburst. She can't really explain what came over her but their something about the look in Puck's eyes when her daddy was saying those horrible things that made her want to wrap her arms around him and protect him from the world and if she's being completely honest with herself, the expression on his face when she was finished was worth questioning looks her fathers exchanged. She meant what she said. She meant every word. She knows that when Puck looks in the mirror he sees just another Lima Loser, but she knows that he could take world by storm if he just had a bit more faith in himself. And the fact is, this situation is just as much her fault as it is his. She may even be more at fault than his is. He simply asked. She's the one that accepted.

"Rachel…" The sound of her daddy's voice snaps her back to reality and she looks up to find both her fathers waiting for her at the door to Mr. Shuester's office. She flushes a little and glances back at Noah shyly.

"Bye Noah." Her eyes meet his for a brief second and he looks like he wants to say something but he doesn't so she drops her gaze to the floor and reaches out to take her suitcase from him. His fingers brush hers and her eyes shoot up to his face again. His green eyes are burning with something she can't explain but all she knows is that it makes her heart race a little.

"Rachel, now!" The tone of her daddy's voice makes her jump and she shoots Puck an apologetic look before turning to follow her fathers out of the room. She glances back once more as she turns the corner and finds Puck still staring after her. She follows her fathers silently to the car, where her dad places her bag in the trunk and the three of them ride home in silence. For the first time in her life, she actually relishes the silence. She doesn't think she can handle a lecture from either one of them. She knows that she's disappointed them but at least she's taking responsibility for her actions, like they taught her to, and not placing the burden solely on Puck's shoulders. She follows them wordlessly into the house. Her daddy doesn't even look at her as he heads toward the kitchen and she frowns - she doesn't regret standing up for Puck but she hates that he's so upset with her.

"He hates me, doesn't he?" She follows her dad upstairs to her room and watches as he places her suitcase on her bed.

"Of course doesn't hate you Rachel." Her dad sighs as he turns to look down at her, sympathy and disappointment in his eyes. "He… you… we just didn't expect this from you." She nods silently, dropping her head as she blinks back tears.

"I know…" She murmurs. "I am sorry, you know. I never meant to…" She trails off as she sinks onto the bed and stares at her hands.

"I know you're sorry but you have to understand something, honey." Her dad sits down next to her and she slowly looks up at him. "This is a lot for us to take in. I mean, you're our baby girl and we always pictured you getting married at our synagogue where we'd get to walk you down the aisle. Instead we find out that you got married in Las Vegas, to a boy we've never met, intoxicated, and an Elvis impersonator gave you away. It's just hard on him… on both of us. But I promise, neither one of us hates you." He wraps his arms around her shoulder and gently kisses her temple. "I think it might be best if you stay up her for a little while so your father and I can talk." She nods silently and her dad stands, making his way to the door. He pauses momentarily to look back at her. "If nothing else, Rachel, at least Noah does seem to genuinely care about you."

* * *

**Puck**

"Of all of the stunts you've pulled Noah, this one has to take the cake." His mom looks up at him, shaking her head when he walks into the kitchen later that night. He'd been hold up in his room since they got home. He kind of figured that was the smartest thing right now. "I mean, married, in Las Vegas, what were you thinking?"

"You told me to find a nice Jewish girl." He mutters under his breath, sliding into a chair a the table and staring intently at the tablecloth and he can feel his mother's eyes on him.

"To date, Noah, not marry." He hears her sigh. "I mean, yes, Rachel does seem like a very lovely girl and she clearly thinks very highly of you and if you were going to marry someone, I certainly wouldn't be opposed to you marrying someone like her…" He shoots a glance in her direction, he doesn't like where this conversation is going and he's ready to nip it in the bud if she keeps going. "But you're still in high school. What did you think was going to happen? Did you think that you would come home and everyone would just welcome the newlyweds with open arms?"

"Obviously, I didn't think Ma!" He snaps and instantly regrets it when his mom shoots him a warning look. "Look, I'm sorry. I am. I don't know why I did it. I really don't." Or he just doesn't want to admit why he did it. "And it's not like it matters anyway, Rachel's dads are going to get it annulled, it'll be like it never happened."

"In the eyes of the law, maybe." His mother sighs again and he cringes. Apparently her momentary infatuation with Rachel is over. She looks pretty stressed now and he knows that she doesn't need any more stress in her life. "But it still happened and the knowledge of that is something that you and Rachel are going to have to live with for the rest of your lives." His shoulders slump a little and he returns his gaze to the table. Like he doesn't already know this. She doesn't need to tell him. He knows. "I know that you're sorry, Noah, but I just don't know if sorry is going to cut it this time. It's been a long day, why don't you just go to bed." He nods silently and slowly trudges upstairs to his room. He falls back on his bed and sighs heavily. Man, this whole situation was so royally fucked up! So much so that there's a tiny part of him that wishes they were still in Vegas. It was easier in Vegas. Sure, it was still fucked up, but at least he had Rachel by his side then. They were a team in Vegas. He glances at the clock. It was still early. He's sure she'd still be awake. _Are you stupid, Puckerman? You got off easy today! If you go over there, you won't have to worry about a annulment because her dads will kill you and then Rachel will be a widow! _He hears Kurt high voice in his head and groans. Seriously, what the fuck? Of all the people he knows, Hummel? That makes absolutely no sense! _Well, it's your freaking sub-conscious, don't ask me!_ Great, now the voice was starting to respond. He's officially lost his mind. He needs to get the hell out of there. The walls feel like they're closing in on him. He listens intently, waiting until he's sure his mom is gone to her room for the night before he grabs his keys and climbs out his window.

* * *

**Rachel**

Rachel lets out a frustrated sigh as she pulls the ear buds from her ear and she tosses her I-Pod on the bed. Not even Celine Dion belting out a ballad can calm her right now and Celine can always calm her. She stares around her room, looking for something to occupy her. Her eyes land on her suitcase, still on the bed where her dad left it. OK, unpack. She can unpack. That'll be something to do. She pulls the suitcase toward her and slowly slides the zipper open. She begins to pull her clothes out, separating them into darks and whites for her laundry. She reaches for her makeup bag and makes her way to her vanity, opening the small bag and placing the items back in their proper spot small table. She looks in the bag and freezes when she sees the two gold rings sitting at the bottom. Their wedding rings. She had forgotten that she had stashed them in their before she and Noah went to meet the rest of the Glee club for breakfast earlier that day. She slowly sits down on the small chair in front of the mirror and turning the bag over and letting the two rings fall into her open palm.

_Do you Noah Puckerman take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?_

She closes her eyes briefly and she can see Noah grinning as he says yes and gently slides the ring on her left hand.

_Do you Rachel Berry take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?_

_Absolutely yes_

She stares down at the rings again. She doesn't understand how she got here. Yes, she and Puck had been very intoxicated when they entered into this marriage but she also knows that, intoxicated or not, she had _wanted_ to marry him and that realization makes her stomach do things that she can't explain.

Ping. Ping.

She looks up with a start. What was that?

Ping. Ping.

Slowly she makes her way to the window and pulls the curtain open to see Puck perched in the tree outside her window. Gasping, she pulls the window open quickly and stares at him in shock.

"Noah, what are you doing?" She whispers, glancing over shoulder.

"Think I could come in Berry?" He glances down at the tree limb he's perched precariously on and her eyes widen when she looks down to the ground which is quite a ways down.

"You have to be quiet." She whispers and he nods. Biting her bottom lip, she steps aside and Puck swings his legs through the window, landing on her carpeted floor with a soft thud. Her head snaps to the door and she half expects to see her dad or daddy standing their, even though logically she knows that it's impossible for them to have heard that. Still, no need to risk the fates. She rushes to the door and turns the lock as softly as she can before turning back to him. "What are you doing here?"

"I couldn't sleep." He shrugs sheepishly, running his hand over the strip of hair on his head. "I thought maybe you might be up for some company." He looks around her room. "Whatcha doing?"

"Whatcha?" Rachel eyes him, perplexed at his choice of phrasing. "Noah, 'whatcha' is not a word."

"Are you seriously giving me a grammar lesson right now?" He rolls his eyes as he stretches out on her bed. "Fine, what are you doing?"

"Thank you." She gives him a sweet smile and he just shakes his head. "I was just unpacking." She nods toward her open suitcase at the bottom of the bed by his feet.

"Oh, right…" He stares at it for a moment. "Ugh, yeah, I actually have your… ugh… well…" He stutters. "You kind of left your bra in my room this morning." He finally gets it out and looks away from her. "I threw it in my bag after Hummel dangled it in my face. That was a very uncomfortable moment."

"Oh…" Rachel feels the blood rush to her face. "Um, well, I'll have to get that back from you at some point…" The two of them are silent for a moment. She slowly sits down at her vanity again and out of the corner of her eyes she can see the two gold wedding rings sitting on the table.

"Listen, Rach… about last night…." Puck begins but breaks off with a frustrated sigh. "Fuck! This is awkward…" He trails off as he looks up at her, guiltily. "Sorry, I know you don't like swearing."

"It's OK." She gives him a soft smile. Puck has the biggest potty mouth of anyone she's every known. Cursing is like breathing to him, she knows that, and she finds it somewhat endearing that he tries to curb the habit around her.

"OK, listen…" He sits up quickly, swinging his legs over the side of the bed so he's facing her. "A lot of last night is a blur to me. I mean, not all of it. I do remembe the important parts…" His eyes move suggestively over her body and she feels another blush rise in her cheeks. "Crap…" He seems to snap out of it and he looks away from her completely. "Look, I just… I mean… did we… I don't remember using protection, Rachel." The words suddenly fly out of his mouth and her eyes widen in surprise. Well that was certainly the last thing she expected from him. "I know how messed up this situation is and I just don't want to make it worse for you, in case there's an off chance…" he glances down at her stomach before looking up at her.

"Noah, I'm on the pill." She crosses the room to sit next to him on the bed. "My dads put me on the pill when I was 15. They said that they didn't want me to have to premarital sex but they weren't naïve enough to think that it wasn't a possibility." He sits in silence staring at her and for a second she thinks that maybe she had another one of her classic over sharing moment. It wouldn't be the first time and she's sure it wouldn't be the last time.

"OK, good." He breathes a sigh of relief, closing his eyes. "Not that it would have been a bad thing if you were." His eyes shoot open and he looks at her. "I mean, you know, I totally would have been there for you and I would have loved that kid and all but this whole thing is so screwed up and I just…"

"Noah, you're rambling. You're starting to sound like me." Rachel reaches for his hand and he stops talking. Their eyes lock for a moment before he starts chuckling and she finds herself smiling as well. She stares into his eyes for a moment before the intensity of his gaze becomes too much and she looks away. "Um, so I found something while I was unpacking." She pushes herself off the bed and pulls her hand out of his, trying to ignore the feeling of longing the second she loses contact with him. "I don't know what to do with these." She picks the rings up off the vanity and turns, holding them out to him in her palm.

"Shit…" He murmurs under his breath, his eyes locked on her hand unblinking. "I almost forgot about them." He slowly stands and crosses her room in two steps. "Um, I guess…" He forces his gaze from the rings to her face. "Well, we could hawk them or something. I don't know how much we'd get for them…" He trails off, shrugging before glancing down at her hand again.

"I don't think I want to sell them, Noah." The words are out of her mouth before she even realizes she's thinking them and his eyes snap back to hers. "I just…I know that the best hing to do is get this marriage annuled and I know that even you and I were in an actual relationship that we're far to young to even consider marriage…." She gently lays the rings back on her vanity and clasps her hands in front of her, staring at them intently. "All I know is that yesterday we got married and soon it's going to be like it never happened, but it did and those rings are a symbol of that… a symbol that for at least one night I was Rachel Puckerman." She feels her face grow hot as the words leave her mouth and she waits for Puck to start laughing at her. She wouldn't blame him if he did. She can't believe she just said that. Any moment now he's going to start laughing. Silence. Slowly she lifts her eyes to look at him. She can't read his expression. The silence is practically deafening and she wishes that the floor would open up and swallow her. "Oh God, I'm such an idiot." She blushes again. "I'm sorry, Noah, I don't know why I said that. You're right, we should just sell them…" She looks up at him, her face burning red. "Can you please say something, Noah, because I feel really stupid right now." He continues to stare at her and his eyes move down to her mouth as she bites her bottom lip nervously. Before she has time to register what's happening, he reaches out and slides one arm around her waist, pulling her against him before he slowly lowers his head and presses his lips against hers.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N - Hey Guys! Here's the next chapter. Thank you again for all the reviews and alerts and I'm so happy that you guys are liking the story! I'm pretty happy with this chapter. Please review! Please, please, I'll love you forever! **

**Rachel**

"Puck kissed you?" Quinn looks over at Rachel Monday afternoon as they make their way to the choir room. "Then what?"

"Then he bolted so fast I was certain that he was going to jump head first out the window just to get away from me." She frowned a little at the memory of Puck softly brushing his lips across her and then pulling away as though she'd burned him, mumbling some excuse about having to leave before his mom knew he was gone.

"Just like that? He kissed you and then just left?" Quinn stops mid-step to look at the tiny brunette. "Really? That doesn't sound like Puck? Have you talked to him today? Did you ask him?"

"He's been avoiding me all day… or I've been avoiding him… we've been avoiding each other." She sighs. "Clearly it was just a momentary lapse in judgment on his part." She looks away, shrugging as though it doesn't matter but she can feel Quinn's eyes on her. "It really isn't anything to get worked up over. It certainly isn't the first time Noah has kissed me and I'm sure…"

"It won't be the last?" Quinn offers with a smirk as they turn the corner into the choir room, which is currently still empty.

"I said nothing of the sorts, Quinn Fabray!" Rachel huffs a little, crossing her arms and stomping across the room to sit down.

"Throw a tantrum all you like, Rachel." Quinn moves across the room slowly, sitting down next to her. "The fact is Puck never kisses anyone without a reason…" She trails off for a second. "Granted most of the time those reasons are sexually depraved and possibly illegal in certain states." Rachel stares at the girl next to her, pure disgust etched across her face and she frowns when she sees that Quinn looks like she's about to burst out laughing. "Well, maybe he was afraid that he was going to, you know, _finish_ too soon. You'd be shocked at how often that happens to Finn. I swear, sometimes I'm shocked he was even able to get me pregnant in the first place." Quinn glances in her direction, rolling her eyes and it's Rachel's turn to stifle a laugh.

"Believe me, Noah has no problem in the stamina department." The words come tumbling out of her mouth before she can stop them and Quinn starts laughing so hard she almost falls out of her chair.

"Rachel Berry, you never cease to shock me." The blonde next to her stares at her as though she never seen before in her life. "OK, look, you have to tell me, is he good?" Quinn wiggles her eyebrows a little and she ducks her head, heat rising in her cheeks and she's sure that she must be fire engine red right now. "Come on, Rachel, it's Puck. With reputation… you gotta give me something. I'm clearly not getting any." Quinn rests her hand on her baby bump. "Please?! He looks like he'd be good. I bet he's good isn't he?" Quinn leans forward as much possible and she steadfastly avoids the pregnant girl's eyes.

"He's fantastic." She murmurs, her cheeks flaming red again as she stares intently at her hands and Quinn squeals before sitting back in her chair.

"I knew it!" The blonde crosses her arms triumphantly and grins when Rachel sends her a scathing look. "Oh, Rachel, I know you're knew to this whole 'girlfriend' thing but this is what you do with your girlfriends. You talk about cute boys." Quinn pats her hand with a smile.

"Hello my lovely ladies." The two of them look up to see Kurt smiling down at them. "And hello my little lovely lady." He rubs his hand over Quinn's tummy gently. "So, who are we gossiping about?" He falls into the chair on the other side of Rachel and stares at the two girls expectantly.

"Rachel was just telling me about Puck's rather impressive sexual prowess." Quinn eyes Kurt with a wicked smile and Rachel groans, sinking lower in her chair.

"Oooooh! I wanna play!" Kurt squeals and literally claps his hands in delight. "I'll bet he's fantastic. He would have to be. I mean, that body and you can't deny the boy can dance. You know what they say about a man who can dance."

"No, what?" Rachel looks up innocently and Kurt stares at her in disbelief. Why is he looking at her like that? So, she's never heard some stupid saying? What's the big deal?

"How in God's holy name did you of all people end up married to Noah "I list sex as an extracurricular activity" Puckerman?" Kurt shakes his head.

"Well, I…" She flushes again as she looks down at her hands. She's so out of her element here. She doesn't know how to do 'girl talk'. She's about as used to this whole 'friend' thing as she is to the whole 'wife' thing.

"I'm sorry little one." Kurt's face immediately softens when he sees her expression. "I didn't mean anything by it, it's just Puck must have a really good time dirtying you up." She flushes again and Quinn reaches over to slap Kurt's arm.

"Kurt, stop it!" Quinn gives him a look before glancing at Rachel. "Seriously, if she turns any redder, I don't know what's going to happen. She might have a heart attack again." She glances up at the blonde gratefully, choosing not to think about the fact that Quinn was grilling her about Puck's sexual abilities just a few minutes ago. "You should tell Kurt what happened."

"Gossip!" Kurt leans forward eagerly, the pleasure of making her uncomfortable currently forgotten. He looks from her to Quinn and back again. "Spill!"

"Puck kissed Rachel last night!" Quinn says immediately and Rachel groans again.

"I knew it!" Kurt leans back in his chair, a smug smile on his face. "Alright start talking little one and from the beginning. Leave nothing out." He settles himself comfortably and watches her, eyebrows raised in expectation. She glances at Quinn, who nods encouragingly, and she takes a deep breath before launching into her story.

She tells him everything, from the scene in Mr. Shue's office to Puck climbing in her window and everything that happened right up until he pulled her in and kissed her.

"He couldn't wait to get out of there. I'm surprised there isn't a Noah shaped hole in my wall." She looks away from Kurt, trying to push the knot in her stomach away. "He obviously just caught up in the moment and clearly regrets it. Otherwise, why would he have left the way he did." She looks up to find Quinn and Kurt watching her with matching expressions.

"My little Rachel." Kurt wraps his arm around her shoulders. "So smart and yet you know nothing about the male psyche. That boy is clearly smitten with you." Her face drops in confusion and she looks to find Quinn nodding in agreement.

"What? What are you talking about? Noah is not _smitten _with me." She scoffs, trying desperately to ignore the butterflies that Kurt's words caused in her stomach. "I'm fairly certain that Noah once said I made him want to light himself of fire. I wouldn't call that smitten."

"Oh for the love of God!" Quinn groans and she looks at the blonde in surprise. "He married you Rachel! Married! As in till death you do part! Puck!"

"Well, we both very intoxicated." She shakes her head again and she really wishes that they would just stop talking about this all together. "I just happened to be the person who was with him at the time. If Santana or Britney had been there, he would married to them and not me." Her stomach turns a little at that thought.

"Oh, Please!" Quinn scoffs. "I've seen Puck drunk with Santana and Britney. Puck has a few beers around them and he tries to cop a feel. He has few beers with you and he proposes. That means something." Quinn gives her a knowing look and Rachel stares at her for a second. She's about to respond when the door swings open and Finn comes shuffling into the room with Britney and Santana behind him. He stares at the three of them as he hovers by the door.

"Uck… I'm gonna go talk to San and Brit." Quinn rolls her eyes and slowly stands, rubbing her baby bump lightly. "I can't deal with him right now." She throws a look in Finn's direction before making her way over to the two Cheerios across the room.

"OK…." Rachel trails off as she watches her… is friend the right word? Are she and Quinn friends now? Quinn had called them girlfriends. "Um, what's going on with Finn and Quinn?" She pulls hers eyes from Quinn to look at Kurt.

"Didn't you hear?" His eyes light up at the prospect of being the first to tell her this latest piece of gossip. "After you and your boy toy left with Mr. Shue and Ms. Pillsbury yesterday…" Rachel frowns at the term 'boy toy' but doesn't say anything as Kurt continues. "Quinn totally laid into Finn!" He tells her in a hushed voice, his eyes dancing with excitement. "It's my understanding they haven't spoken since."

"Oh dear." She looks at Quinn again.

"Rachel… um… could I, you know, talk to you for a second?" She looks up with a start to see Finn standing over her, starting down at her with those puppy dog eyes he seems to have mastered but for the first time ever they have absolutely no effect on her.

"Have you apologized to Noah?" She crosses her arm and stares at him seriously. She really is a glutton for punishment, defending him after what he did last night but she can't help it. If she doesn't defend him, she feels like no one else will.

"What?" Finn looks at her confused and she hears Kurt snort a laugh next to her.

"Noah Puckerman. Puck. You're supposed best friend. Have you apologized to him for the despicable things that you said?" She asks again. "And not to mention Quinn, the mother of your child, who you completely disrespected."

"Rachel, I'm just trying to protect you." Finn stumbles over his words and as she looks at him she can't help but wonder what she ever saw in the fumbling quarterback in front of her. "Puck's my friend. I know him better than you. You can't get involved with him anymore than you already are. He'll just end up hurting you." She stares at him in silence for a long moment and she can feel her blood starting to boil.

"What is the matter with you, Finn Hudson!" She stands, hands on her hips, glaring at the tall boy. "How can you say those things about him and then call yourself his friend." She can see Kurt smirking out of the corner of her eye. The events of last night suddenly seem very far from her mind and all she can think of right now is giving Finn Hudson a piece of her mind. "I will have you know that even on his worst day Noah is twice the man you'll ever be on your best!"

You could hear a pin drop when she stopped talking and she jumped when the door to the choir room slammed shut and she looked to see Puck standing just inside the door with Mike and Matt.

* * *

**Puck**

_Even on his worst day Noah is twice the man you'll ever be on your best!_

Rachel's voice is the first thing he hears when he pulls open the door to the choir room. He stopped dead in his tracks and Mike and Matt collide into him (which he barely even notices) and the door slams shut behind them. That's when Rachel looks up and their eyes lock for like half a second and he feels like the biggest ass ever.

Even after the shit he pulled last night, she was still defending him. How the fuck is that even possible? _Because Rachel is a good person, who for some crazy reason actually cares about your stupid ass! _Kurt's voice echoes in his head. It's really messed up that he's still hearing Kurt in his head when the actual Kurt is sitting 10 feet away from him, watching the whole scene in fascination.

"Dude, your wife is kind of hot when she's all worked up over you." Matt mutters behind him and Puck sends him a look that says if he wants to keep breathing he will stop talking right now. Matt quickly drops his head and practically bolts over to Quinn and the other girls.

He turns back and his eyes land on Finn, causing his fists to clench. How the hell was he ever friends with that little dick for long?! He eyes his (former) best friend with disdain and Finn glares back. Seriously, what the fuck is this guy's problem? He glances at Quinn and can't help but feel for the pregnant girl. She looks like she wants to crawl into a hole and stay there and he can't really blame her. It's gotta suck when your baby's daddy is blatantly flipping out in a jealous rage over another girl.

He slides his gaze back to Rachel and is a little shocked when he finds her watching him with those big doe eyes of her. Fuck! Not the eyes! He can't freaking handle it when she looks at him like that. He feels like an even bigger asshole now if that's even possible. He fucked up royally last night. He knows that. He knew it the second he mumbled that stupid excuse and climbed out her window.

The truth is all he had wanted to do was turn around, climb back into her room and keep kissing her. But he couldn't do that because he knew that if kept kissing her that he wouldn't be able to stop and then they would have ended up in bed together. That is the last things he needs. The feel of her body pressed against him and the taste of her skin are permanently burned into his brain as it is and he knows that if he sleeps with her again he'll never be able to sleep with another woman for the rest of his life.

_Please, like you even __**want**_ _to sleep with anyone else._ Kurt's voice taunts him and Puck glares at the small kicker across the room as though he had done something. But the worst part is that stupid little annoying voice in his head is right. He doesn't want to sleep with anyone else, which is like a first for him. Ever! But he can't even think about sleeping with someone else, not when he remembers how she felt and tasted.

There's something going on between them that he doesn't understand. The way she defended him to her fathers was enough. But then when she said that she wanted to keep the rings so she could remember when she was Rachel Puckerman… fuck, something just snapped in him and he honestly isn't sure he would have been able to tell you his name at that moment, all his brain could focus was her and the look on her face and her pouty lips that were practically begging him to be kissed. So he followed the instinct. He kissed her and it wasn't until she started to respond and press herself closer to him that he realized he needed to get the hell out of there before he reached the point of no return.

He cringes when he remembers the look on her face after he pulled away from her. Confusion, hurt… he hates that something he did has caused her to feel bad about herself.

"Why are you blocking the door?" He turns his head to see Tina, Mercedes and Artie staring at him.

"Whatever." He growls under his breath before turning away. Thankfully Finn decided to slink off to the corner and away from Rachel. _Your Rachel, come on, admit it._ He clenches his jaw. Fucking Hummel! His eyes meet Rachel's again for another second before she glances at Kurt and heads across the room to sit next to Quinn.

He needs to talk to her. He needs to at least try to explain last night, of course, he has idea how he's supposed to do that because he can't very well tell her the truth.

"What the hell are you doing?" He sighs heavily when he hears Kurt's voice again "I'm talking to you Puckerman!" Wait a second, did the voice in his head just poke him? He feels another poke and looks down to see Kurt glaring up at him.

"What do you want Beyonce?" He barely glances in his direction as his eyes land on Rachel again, who's (pretending) to be engrossed in her sheet music.

"I'm getting tired of having this conversation with you!" Kurt takes on a threatening tone and Puck finally looks at him. Shit! Hummel looks like he wants to seriously beat his ass and he actually takes a step back because the look in the kid's eyes is kind of scaring him.

"Rachel told you about last night." He sighs as he looks at the smaller boy. "I fucked up Hummel, I know that." He lowers his voice a little and runs his hand over his hair and Kurt's hard expression softens a bit.

"So, what are you going to do to fix it?" Kurt glances over his shoulder at Rachel before looking back at him. Puck shrugs helplessly. "God Lord Man! You married her! Man up! Tell her how you feel!" Kurt slaps his arm with an air of finality before spinning on his heel and prancing over to sit next to Rachel, patting her knee reassuringly.

Sighing he sulks across the room to sit down next to Tina just as Mr. Shue comes in and stops dead in his tracks when he sees the group.

"Guys, what are you doing here? There's no practice. We just won Nationals, there's nothing left to win." Mr. Shue sets his bag on the piano and turns to look at them.

"We know, but just because we aren't competing doesn't mean that we're not still a Glee Club. We came to sing." Mercedes pipes up.

"Well, OK, great!" Mr. Shue smiles. "I actually found a…"

"We actually already have something Mr. Shue." Kurt jumps to his feet with a grin. "After you took Mr. and Mrs. Federline over here to talk to the parentals…" Puck glowers at him and he can see Rachel turn red and duck her head. "The rest of us, well, most of us…" Kurt throws a look in Finn's direction, who is still sulking in the corner, a sight that makes Puck smile. "we put a little something together for the newlyweds." Kurt claps his hands happily as the rest of group (minus Finn) join him.

Puck slowly looks at Rachel, who looks just as confused as him. Kurt catches his eyes and purposefully looks at Rachel. He hesitates for a second before crossing the room to sit down next to her. She looks at him in surprise and gives her a sheepish smile, shrugging.

"We just thought that this song fit the two of you perfectly. And really, if your friends aren't aloud to Raz you, who can?" Kurt grins again and nods toward the band.

Puck freezes when the chords to a familiar song start playing and he groans. Kurt steps forward, grinning as he starts to sing.

_You gotta help me out. __I__t's all a blur last night. We need a taxi 'cause you're hung-over and I'm broke. I lost my fake ID but you lost the motel key. Spare me your freakin' dirty looks! Now don't blame me. __You want to cash out and get the hell out of town. __Don't be a baby, remember what you told me!_

The rest of the group joins in and Puck glances at Rachel. He's not gonna lie, he's kind of shocked to see her laughing.

_Shut up and put your money where your mouth is! That's what you get for waking up in Vegas! Get up and shake the glitter off your clothes, now. That's what you get for waking up in Vegas._

Quinn steps forward and winked at Rachel as she belted out the next verse.

_Why are these lights so bright ?Did we get hitched last night? Dressed up like Elvis. Why am I wearing your class ring? _(she holds up her left hand wiggling her ring finger) _Don't call your mother 'cause now we're partners in crime. __Don't be a baby, r__emember what you told me_

Group

_Shut up and put your money where your mouth is! That's what you get for waking up in Vegas!Get up and shake the glitter off your clothes, now. T__hat's what you get for waking up in Vegas._

Kurt & Quinn

_You got me into this. Information overload, situation lost control! Send out an S.O.S and get some cash out. We're gonna tear up the town! Don't be a baby! __Remember what you told me __!Remember what you told me, told me, you told me, you told me_

They reach the last chorus and suddenly Quinn and Kurt are pulling the two of them out of the chairs.

_Shut up and put your money where your mouth is! That's what you get for waking up in Vegas! __Get up and shake the glitter off your clothes, now! That's what you get for waking up in Vegas!Shake the glitter! Shake, shake, shake the glitter, c'mon! Give me some cash out baby! Give me some cash out, honey!_

By the end of the song, Puck's actually laughing. He stops dancing for a second when he sees Rachel, laughing and dancing with Kurt. Fuck! Before he can talk himself out of it, he marches over and grabs her by the hand, pulling her behind him as he heads for the door.

* * *

**Rachel**

She's a little shocked when Noah appears and she barely has time to register that he's even next to her when he's grabbing her hand and dragging her out of the choir room. She looked back at Kurt to beg for assistance, instead she finds him smiling after them.

"Noah, would you please tell me what you think you're…" She begins but he just looks over his shoulder and shakes his head. The look in his eye is enough to make the words disappear. He pulls her into an empty classroom and she's about to ask him what is going on when suddenly his lips on hers. The kiss is intense but before she can even react he pulls away and stares down at her, slightly out of breath. She slowly reaches up to touch her lips, trying to wrap her head around what is going on before she looks up at him and suddenly just feels mad. "Damn it Noah!" His eyes widen when she swears. "You can't just keep doing this." She slaps his chest as hard as she can, although she's sure that he probably didn't even feel it. "You can't keep messing with my head like this. It's not fair!"

She wraps her arms around herself and turns away from him. She doesn't like that he has this kind of effect on her. In fact she pretty much hates it. She wasn't supposed to feel things for him. This was just supposed to be a mistake that her daddies would fix and she could continue on with her plan to become a star. She wasn't supposed to feel sad about the fact that this marriage was ending. She wasn't supposed to want to be Rachel Puckerman!

"I'm sorry, Rach." Puck takes a step toward her, his voice lowering as he brushes the hair from her face. "I don't know what I'm doing. Last night, I just… If I had stayed there last night, you and I would have ended up in bed. You know that just as well as I do and we just can't. No matter how badly I may want to - and I do want to - it's not a good idea." His eyes lock on hers and she suddenly feels weak in the knees.

She's not really sure what came over her in that moment but staring at him all rational thought went out the window and she launched herself into his arms, crashing her lips against his. She heard him groan loudly and for a second she thought he was going to push her away so she was quite delighted when his strong arms wrapped around her and crushed her against him. She clung to him as they stumbled toward the teacher's desk and he leaned against it, pulling her between his open legs.

"God, you're so beautiful." He murmured as his lips made a trail down her neck and she visibly shuddered. How could one person make her feel like this? She pressed closer to him and his hands slid down to her bottom as he pulled her center closer to his.

"Noah…" Her head fell back as her eyes drifted shut and he kissed his way down to her breasts. Suddenly he pulled away and she frowned at the loss of contact. What was he doing? Why did he stop touching her?

"Rachel, I…" He stared at her face for a second, his eyes searching hers but she wasn't sure what he was looking for. "I…"

"God, can't you two control yourself?" They both jump and turn to see Quinn and Kurt standing in the door, smirking.

"Fuck you both." Puck growls at the two of them and steadies Rachel on her feet before standing up and straightening his clothes.

"No, I think you were about to do that to Rachel." Kurt grins and Quinn bursts out laughing.

"Come on Rach. Let's get out of here. We need to talk anyway." He grabs her hand and she doesn't protest as he pulls her out of the room past Kurt and Quinn, who both give her thumbs up and she ducks her head as a smile starts to form on her face.

"There's no need to get so upset, Puckerman!" Kurt calls down the hall as Puck stalks toward the door, dragging her behind him "We think this is a good thing!"


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N - Hey guys! So I finished the next chapter. There are just a couple of things I want to point out:**

**1. I'm not a lawyer and I don't live in the US so I have no idea what the actual legal requirements are for an annulment, so I just made them up. If someone knows the actual requirements and wants to let me know, that would be great.**

**2. The story sort of took a turn that I wasn't planning on and I'm not going to lie, I'm a little nervous. I had this chapter planned COMPLETELY differently but when I started writing this is what came out. I hope you guys like it. I have all of these ideas swirling around my head now and I just need to figure out how to put them in the story.**

**OK, that's it! Thank you again for all of the reviews! It makes me so happy to open my email and see all of the notices! Please keep it up! And hopefully you don't hate it :)**

* * *

**Puck**

"Noah, where are we going?" Rachel asks when they reach his truck. He turns to look at her and finds her watching him expectantly. Her lips still look a little bruised and her cheeks are still flushed and he fights the urge to kiss her again.

"I don't know actually…" He shrugs. "I didn't really think that far ahead."

"Well, it's really nice down by the lake this time of day. It should be pretty quiet." Rachel suggests and he stares at her. The lake? The make out spot? Is she really suggesting they go there? Of course, this is Rachel Berry, she probably doesn't even realize that it's the go to place for teens in this town when they want to get a little action.

"Works for me." He nods and opens the passenger door before turning and gripping her waist firmly but gently and lifting her into the cab. She smiles at him shyly before turning to put her seatbelt on but he beats her to it and clicks the lock securely in place, his hands brushing against hers as he does so. Their eyes lock for a second and she reaches out to touch his cheek. He still doesn't know what the hell they're doing but right now in this moment he doesn't care because the way she's looking at him makes him feel like he could do or be anything. Without thinking he leans in and brushes his lips across hers. She sighs a little against his mouth and he kisses her lightly once more before shutting her door and jogging around to the passenger side and climbing in next to her.

She's pretty quiet on the drive. He steals a glance at her every once in a while to find her staring out the window, obviously lost in thought. He can't help but wonder if she's as confused by what's going on with them as he is. They're Puck and Berry for fuck's sake. They're not exactly what you would call the most obvious couple. She looks up when he pulls into the parking lot by the lake and almost looked surprised. He kills the engine and the two of them are quiet for a long time.

"Rachel, I…" He slowly turns to face her and is cut off by her lips on his. Wait? What? "Wait, listen, I…" He reluctantly pulls away from her and she stares up at him, a little out of breath.

"Less talking, more kissing." She grips his shirt and pulls his face back to hers, latching on to his mouth, her tongue sweeping across his bottom lip and he groans before aggressively attacking her lips, eagerly trying to taste as much of her as he possibly can. His hand slid up her leg, pushing her tiny skirt up with it and she moaned against his mouth as he stroked her thigh.

With lips still firmly attached to his, she moved closer to him, throwing one of her (perfect) legs over him and climbing into his lap, straddling him. She rocked gently against him and his hands gripped her hips thrusting against her. After a few minutes - well, he thinks it's minutes, really, it could have been hours, he has absolutely no idea- she pulls away and looks down at him. He brushes the hair from her face as she smiles softly. She presses her lips against his once more before reaching for the top button of the simple white blouse she's wearing. Shit! Fuck! This is exactly what he didn't want to happen (OK, that's a total lie, this is _exactly_ what he wants to happen, but it can't. Not now. Not like this).

"Don't." He barely even recognizes his own voice as he covers her tiny hands with his and she stares at him in disbelief for a second before her face crumbles and she drops her head.

"I'm such an idiot." She mutters and he feels his chest contract when he sees the tears in her eyes and she begins to move off him but he grips her waist tightly pulling her back so they're face to face. "What do you want from me, Noah?" She stares at him, confusion, hurt and embarrassment all fighting for dominance behind her eyes. He doesn't respond immediately and she shakes her head, trying again to pull away from but he tightens his hold on her.

"Do you really have to ask me that, Berry?" He stares at her and sighs. "I want _you. _I want you so bad that I can't think straight when you're around. But this…" He motions around them. "You deserve better than this." Her expression softens as she looks at him and he leans forward to press his mouth against hers. "I want to be with you Rachel, but not like this, not here."

"So, what do we do now?" Rachel asks, biting her bottom lip nervously and he can't help but smile. She really has absolutely no idea how unbelievably adorable she is.

"Well, I think right now, the best idea is for you to move back to the passenger seat because if you stay where you are I'm probably going to forget everything I just said and take you right now." He raises his eye brows at her and she looks down, blushing furiously when she sees that she's still straddling him.

"Oh my…" She scrambles to get off him and in the process practically falls onto the seat next to him. She quickly straightens herself and looks over at him shyly. "So, um, what's next?"

"Well, I'd like to take you out." He says and looks away from her, suddenly feels incredibly stupid. Jesus, when did he become such a tool?

"Like a date? I didn't think, Noah Puckerman did the whole dating thing." He can hear the smile in her voice and looks back at her to see her grinning at him.

"Normally I don't…" He shrugs, starting the truck. "But you know, you already roped into marrying you so I figure how much worse can it get." He laughs as Rachel's eyes widen and her mouth drops in shock.

"Please, we both know that you practically begged me to marry you!" Rachel glares at him, crossing her arms and he laughs again, throwing one arm over her shoulder and pulling her across the seat.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night." He kisses the top of her head as she laughs and rests her head against his shoulder and he tightens his arm around her.

* * *

**Rachel**

"Where have you been?" Her daddy is waiting for her when she gets home. She steps into the house to find him standing in the hall.

"Oh, are you speaking to me now?" She bites back, shocking even herself. She's never spoken to her daddy like that before (well besides that whole flip out in Mr. Shue's office but those were special circumstances).

"Don't take that tone with me young lady." He shakes his head. "I'm going to ask you again, where were you? There's no more Glee so you can't use that as an excuse." She says nothing as she looks at him, fidgeting with the hem of her blouse. Regardless of everything, she doesn't want to have to lie to him because he's still her daddy. Of course, she also realizes that her silence says everything. "You were with that boy, weren't you." Rachel bites her lip and looks away. "Damn it Rachel. He's a bad influence on you! Can't you see that? Look at what he's already talked you into doing! Drunk and married in Las Vegas! Is that really the type of person that you want to be spending your time with?"

"Stop blaming him!" She finally snaps. "You don't know him. You don't know anything about him."

"I know that for the last three years he was the boy who threw iced drinks on you every day and suddenly you think he's your Prince Charming? Why? Because he said he loved you?" Her daddy's face softens. "Rachel, you're young and still so inexperienced. Boys like him will say whatever they have to get what they want and once they do they'll be gone. I've seen his type before. I'm sure he can be very charming but you can not let yourself fall for it, because once he gets what he's after you'll be left alone and heart broken and I don't want that for you."

"Daddy, I know that you're worried about me…" Rachel blinked back tears. "But I promise you, Noah isn't like that. Yes, he has done some… awful things in the past, but he's changed. I know he has!"

"OK, I think we all need to just let this rest for now." Her dad appears in the kitchen door. "Rachel, sweetheart, we need to talk to you. We saw the lawyer today. Why don't you come in and sit down."

"What did they say?" Rachel looks up at her dad as she makes her way into the kitchen and sits down at the table.

"Well, because both you are over 18 the marriage is legal but we just have to apply to have it annulled stating that the two of you entered into the marriage under extreme circumstances." Her dad sits down across from her while her daddy leans against the counter, arms crossed. "And as long as both parties are in agreement, it should be pretty straight forward."

_As long as both parties in agreement_. Her dad's words echo in her mind. She stares at her hands for a long moment before looking back at her fathers.

"What if both parties don't agree?" Her voice is barely a whisper. There's a tiny voice in the back of her mind that's telling her to stop talking right now but she ignores it. She's tired of taking the easy way out; doing the right thing, what's expected of her. She doesn't know what's going to happen with her and Puck but she's not ready to just throw it all away yet.

"Why wouldn't both parties agree?!" Her daddy's voice booms around the kitchen and she cringes. "Damn it, Rachel! I'm not going to let you ruin your life over some boy who only wants you to satisfy some physical need just so he can toss you aside after!"

"Daddy, he's not trying to do that!" Rachel shakes her head in anger, tears filling her eyes. "Why can't you just trust me when I tell you that Noah is not like that!"

"Trust you?" His hand slams down on the counter and she jumps at the bang. "The last time we trusted you, you came home married to some deviant!"

"He's not a deviant!" She jumps to her feet, unable to stop herself. "And he's not using me for sex! If he was, why did he turn me down when I threw myself him?! Why did he tell me that I deserved better?!" Her eyes widen as the words leave her mouth and she stares at her fathers, both of whom are staring at her in shock.

"That's it! You are forbidden to see that boy anymore!" Her daddy's says and she stares at him.

"You can't tell me who I can or can not see." Her voice is shaking and she feels like she's about to burst into tears. She can't believe that she's actually having this conversation with her fathers. When had her life become like this?

"As long as you live in my house, I can!" He slams his hand on the counter again and the tears she had been holding back finally burst.

"Fine! I won't live here anymore!" She screams at the top of her lungs. and spins on her heel and stalks to her room. Tears blur her vision as she digs her suitcase from the closet and opens it on the bed. Without even looking at what she's taking, she starts throwing clothes into the bag without them.

"Rachel, sweetheart, stop." Her dad's voice causes her to freeze and she turns to see him standing in the doorway, his face anxious. "This isn't the answer."

"I'm sorry, dad, I am." She turns away from him, tears spilling from her eyes again and she wipes them hastily with her sleeve. "But I can't stay here with him." She throws the last of her clothes into the suitcase before going into the bathroom to collect her toiletries.

"Your father is angry right now, but we can work this out." Her dad is blocking the door back to her room when she turns back around.

"No, he's never going to accept Noah." She pushes past him, sniffling. "I care about him, dad, and he cares about me. Why can't he see that?" She throws her toiletries on top of the clothes and turns to look at her dad.

"Rachel, honey, he's worried about you." He crossed the room and takes her by the shoulders, looking down at her with concern. "So am I. You don't know even know this boy. I know that you think you have all of these feelings for him but…"

"Don't tell me how I feel." She pushes him away, turning to pull the zipper closed on her bag. "I don't know what's happening between Noah and I, but I do know that he's important to me…." She stares at her dad, tears streaming down her face. "And that should be enough for the two of you." Shaking her head, she drags the bag off the bed and pushes past him again. She starts toward the door but pauses when she sees the two wedding bands still sitting on her vanity. She grabs them quickly and heads for the stairs, ignoring her dad's voice calling after her. She grabbed her jacket, purse and keys and reached for the door, trying not to focus on stab of pain that was shooting through her chest.

"If you leave this house, don't bother coming back!" She freezes at sound of her daddy's voice and she turns her head to see him standing in the kitchen door, arms crossed over his chest.

"David!" Her dad stops halfway down the stairs to stare at the two of them. She stares at her daddy for a long time, her bottom lip quivering as she wills herself not to cry in front him.

"I'm really sorry, dad." She looks up apologetically at her dad. "I love you both, I hope you know that." She turns away, gathering her things and pulling the front door open. It isn't until she clicks the door shut behind her that she allows herself to really cry. She can barely see as she stumbles her way toward her car. She throws her bags in the back and climbs into the driver seat. She wipes her eyes and looks up back at the house. She can see the shadow of her fathers in the window, clearly arguing. She takes a deep breath and slowly starts the car.

10 minutes later she hesitantly reaches out and knocks on the door in front of her, quickly wiping her eyes and smoothing her hair down. She stares down at her hands until she hears the lock click. A second later the door swings open and she looks up.

* * *

**Puck**

The last thing he expected to see when he opened his front door was Rachel, shivering with red puffy eyes.

"Rach, what are you doing here?" He steps toward her, reaching out to guide her inside. "Are you OK? What happened?"

"I didn't have anywhere else to go, Noah." She crumbles into tears and he immediately pulls her into his arms, cradling her head against his chest. "I left." She murmurs into his chest as she struggles to take a shaky breath and he pulls away to look down at her.

"You left? What are you talking about?" He brushes the tears from her face and feels a stab in his heart when she looks up at him and he sees the pain in her eyes.

"I got into a huge fight with my daddy and I left." She collapses against him again as tears spill from her eyes and he hesitates for a second before gently running his fingers through her hair with one hand while the other rubs her back lightly. He has absolutely no idea what the hell he's doing. He doesn't know how to deal with crying girls, and even less with a crying Rachel because the sight of her in tears makes him want to find the person who caused them and make them cry and he can't really do that in this case. Regardless, his pathetic attempts at comfort seem to work because her tears seem to have subsided again and she looks up at him. "I'm sorry to just show up like this, I just didn't know where else to go."

"It's fine." He pulls her back into his arms but he can't help but think that Kurt or Quinn would have been a better choice than him.

"Noah, what's going on?" They both look up at the sound of his mom's voice and find her standing on the stairs. "Rachel? What are you doing here? Are you OK?" The older woman immediately rushes to the younger girl's side. He watches in fascination as Rachel visibly pulls herself together and plasters a watery smile on her face before looking at his mother.

"I'm terribly sorry to just show up like this Mrs. Puckerman…" She breaks off and blinks back tears. "I had a bit of disagreement with my fathers. I apologize. I'll be going." She glances at him quickly before turning toward the door and he suddenly feels like he's having some sort of attack. He can't just let her leave. Not in the condition she's in!

"No, Rachel, wait!" He reaches out to grab her hand and she looks back at him. "Mom…" He looks at his mother, his eyes pleading. His mom looks at him for a moment before turning to Rachel, a soft smile on her face.

"You're not going anywhere, Rachel." He breathes a sigh of relief as his mom approaches and wraps her arm gently around Rachel's shoulders. "You'll stay here tonight and we'll figure this out tomorrow. Did you bring things with you?"

"They're in the car…" Rachel's says quietly and he suddenly snaps into action. Finally something he knows how to deal with.

"I'll get them." He says quickly and his mom nods in his direction. He moves toward the door and Rachel grabs his hand. "I'll be right back, baby." He presses a kiss to her forehead, ignoring the expression on his mother's face as she watches them. He dashes quickly to her car, grabbing her bag from the backseat.

He steps back into the house to find his mom and Rachel gone. Dropping her bag on the floor he makes his way into the kitchen to find his mom boiling the kettle.

"Where's Rachel?" His voice is barely a whisper.

"I sent her upstairs to your room to lie down." She pulls a mug out of the cupboard, setting it on the counter as the kettle starts to whistle. "I'm just making her some tea to warm her up. The poor thing was shivering."

"Mom…" He stares at her as she drops a tea bag in the mug and pours the hot water in. He really wishes that she would look at him because he has absolutely no idea what the fuck he's supposed to do.

"Take this up to her." His mom turns, holding the mug of hot liquid out to him. He nods silently, taking it from her and turns silently to leave the room. "Noah…" Her voice causes him to stop and look back at her. "I hope you know what you're doing with this girl because she just gave up everything for you."

"I think love her, Mom." The realization hits him like a ton of bricks. He's been dancing around his feelings for Rachel Berry for a while but suddenly it all seems clear. He's in love with her and he has been for a while. Long before Vegas.

"You need to know because she clearly loves you." His mom slowly crosses the room to stand in front of him. "I only hope the two of you know what you're gotten yourselves into. Go, before that gets cold." She nods toward the stairs and he turns, grabbing her suitcase before he heads up the stairs. He hesitates outside his bedroom door before setting her suitcase down and knocking quietly.

"Come in." He hears her call quietly and he swings the door open, picking up her bag again.

"Hey, here's your bag and Mom sent you up some tea…to warm you up." He finishes lamely and cringes. "Um…." He trails off as he looks at her, curled up at the head of his bed, arms wrapped tightly around her legs. She looks so tiny and fragile and he's filled with this overwhelming urge to protect her with everything in him.

"Thank you, Noah." She sits up with a soft smile. Well, she seems to have calmed down a bit, which is a relief to him because he can't handle seeing her upset. She reaches out the take the mug from him and sips it slowly. "That's lovely, thank you." She lays it on his nightstand slowly. "I am really sorry for just showing up like this, Noah." She drops her head, staring at her hands. "You probably think I am completely crazy. But I just couldn't stay in that house."

"Well, I already knew you were crazy Berry." He eyes her, praying that she laugh or smile or something and he practically cheers when she lets out a small laugh. "C'mon, push over." He nudges her gently and she looks at him for a second before sliding a few inches to her left. He quickly moves behind her, scooping her up in one quick motion and stretching the both of them out on his bed. He hears her sigh a little when he pulls her back against his chest and he loops one arm around her waist. She absentmindedly plays with his fingers for a second before pulling his hand up and gripping it tightly to her chest and he moves closer to her, pressing a kiss onto her neck.

"Thank you for being here Noah." She turns her head slightly to look at him and his eyes meet hers.

"I'll always be here, Berry." He rests his head against hers and she smiles a little as her eyes drift close. She settles back against him and whispers so quietly that he almost didn't hear it.

"It's Puckerman now."


	8. Chapter 8

**Puck**

He wakes the next morning to find Rachel curled into him. At some point throughout the night they had gone from spooning to facing each other with Rachel practically buried in his chest and his arms wrapped around her tightly. He stares down at her sleeping. While part of him loves the fact that he's waking up next to her, he can't help but frown at the circumstances that brought her here. He's never seen her so upset. He's never seen _anybody_ that upset - except maybe his mom when his dad walked out on them but he's not thinking about that right now. Closing his eyes, he brushes his lips across her forehead as lightly as possible so as to not wake her.

He doesn't know what happened between her and her fathers. She didn't get into it but something tells him that it was about him. He can only guess that some sort of ultimatum was given… and she had chosen him for some unknown reason. He's not going to lie, that scares him a little. Actually, that scares him a lot. She's put so much trust in him and he's terrified that he's going to let her down. He's pulled from his thoughts as Rachel begins to stir in his arms and he watches her eyes flutter open slowly. She looks up at him groggily for a second before giving him a soft smile.

"Morning…" She murmurs, pressing closer to him and he breathes a contented sigh as he tightens his arms around her.

"Morning beautiful." He whispers into her hair, breathing in her scent. If this is the way he starts every day for the rest of his life, he'd be totally fine with that. "How are you feeling?" He pulls away to look down at her and she stares at his chest for a second before pulling her eyes up to his.

"Better." She glances down for a second before looking back at him. "Thank you for last night. You were wonderful, so was your mother. I really need to thank her."

"It's no sweat." He says a little gruffly, slightly embarrassed by her compliments.

"It is a very big… sweat." She screws up her face a little as she says the word and shakes her head before continuing. "You didn't have to take care of me but you did and that makes you wonderful." He stares at her for a moment before shaking his head, marvelling at how someone so smart can be so dense sometimes.

"I meant what I said to you." He sits up, pulling her with him, and looks her straight in the eyes. "I'm always going to be here. Always."

"Thank you, Noah." She blushes a little, glancing down at her hands. "Um, what time is it?" He leans around her to grab his cell phone off the nightstand.

"Almost 8." He says tossing the phone back on the table.

"Oh my Lord, we're late." She throws the covers off and jumps out of bed. He can't help but smile at the sight of her in nothing but his t-shirt. Instead of digging out her own pyjamas, she had opted instead to sleep in one of his old McKinley High shirts. Like he said, he could get used to waking up like this every morning. "Noah, get up!" She stares down at him, hands on her hips. "We have to get to school." She turns again but he reaches out to grab her hand.

"You want to go to school?" He asks when she turns to look at him. "Rach, after everything that happened, if you want to ditch that's totally understandable." She stares at him as though she doesn't understand a word he's saying. "I'll ditch with you."

"Absolutely not." She shakes her head vehemently. "I refuse to allow our education to suffer because of the personal dramas that we happen to find ourselves entangled in."

Entang-a-what? He stares at her for a second. "You're aloud to be upset about this, you know?"

"I know…" She sighs a little before moving back to the bed to sit on the edge and he immediately swings his legs over the side to sit next to her. "But truthfully, I'm not sure that magnitude of the situation has fully sunk in yet. In any event, I firmly believe that the best thing I can do for right now is go about my daily routine as normally as possible. Obviously, I am going to have to speak to my fathers eventually but I think that for the moment the best thing for both of us to do is go to school."

"OK." He relents and her head snaps in his direction and he almost laughs at the expression on her face. She probably wasn't expecting him to agree so easily but he'd pretty much agree to anything she said today. "Why don't you grab a shower first. You're a girl, you take longer to get ready." She opens her mouth to retaliate but he pushes her gently to her feet. "Just go, Berry." He rolls his eyes with a smirk, which quickly fades when her eyes lock on his.

_It's Puckerman now_ echoes in his mind and he can tell from her face that she's thinking the same thing. They both stare at each other for a long moment before she turns, heading toward the door.

"About what I said last night…" Her voice is barely a whisper as she reaches for the doorknob and glances back at him.

"It's cool, Rachel." He shrugs. "We don't need to get into that right now." She gives him an embarrassed smile before ducking her head and fleeing the room. He sits in silence staring at the closed door. _Tell her! Tell her the second that she walks in that door! She needs that right now! She needs to know that she made the right choice. She's freaking terrified and she needs __**you **__to make it OK._ Kurt yells at him in his mind and he groans. Just when he thought Hummel was gone.

A mere 10 minutes later (he's not easily shocked and he freely admits that that one shocked the shit out of him) Rachel walks back into his room and he almost falls off the bed when he sees her wrapped up in his robe, practically tripping over it it's so long, hair wet and hanging down her back.

"I hope it's OK." She fingers the sleeve of the robe as she looks at him. "It was in the bathroom and it was a man's so I figured it was yours. I didn't want to be walking around your house in nothing but a towel." She flushes a little and looks away and he continues to just stare at her. "Um, Noah, you're staring." Her voice snaps him back to reality and he looks at her.

"Right, sorry, um, I'm gonna shower. You can get dressed in here." He stands and makes his way towards the door, her fingers brushing his when he passes her and he pauses to look down at her. "What am I gong to do with you?" He says in a whisper, shaking his head before dropping his head to kiss her softly. Seriously, if this is going to be his morning routine for the next 50 years, he's not going to complain. "I'll be back." He kisses her forehead quickly before turning and heading toward the bathroom. Alright, cold shower it is.

When he's done in the bathroom, he makes his way back to his room and knocks lightly before entering. She looks up at him with a smile but her eyes look sad and he frowns. He wishes he knew what he could do to make this right for her. A really big part of him wants to tell her to go home and make up with her fathers but he knows she's not going to do that. She's way too stubborn for that.

So he decides that right now he's just going to do whatever she asks of him, no questions asks until he can figure something else out. Within reasonable limits of course, because he's still a badass. Who is he kidding? He doesn't even need Kurt's high pitched voice in his head to know that that is a complete crock of shit. He'll do anything she asks him to with fucking bells on. As long as it makes her… well, not happy but less sad.

When both of them are ready, they slowly make their way downstairs and find his mother in the kitchen. "Morning Ma…" He mutters making his way toward the fridge.

"Good Morning." His mom looks up from the newspaper and he watches her eyes land on Rachel. "How are you feeling, Rachel?"

"Much better." Rachel smiles, flushing slightly. "Thank you for everything Mrs. Puckerman."

"There's no need to thank me. I'm glad you're feeling better and please call me Sarah." She smiles, standing up from the table to put her coffee mug in the sink. "I have to work a double today, Noah." She glances at him as she rinses the cup out. "Abigail's going to go to Mrs. Patterson's right after school and I'll pick her up on my way home. I'm late I have to go." She reaches for her purse and keys and heads toward the door but pauses to look back at Rachel. "Rachel, honey, you know that you're welcome to stay here for as long as you need to but I do think that you should call your fathers, if not to work things out than at least to let them know your OK, because I'm sure they're probably worried sick." She gives them both a smile before leaving and Puck's quiet until he hears his mother close the front door.

"Sorry about that." He shrugs a little as he looks at her. "She means well, she's just…"

"A mom?" Rachel supplies and he kind of laughs, nodding.

"Exactly." He pauses for a second before wrapping his arms around her and pulling her to him. "It's going to be OK, I promise."

"While realistically I know that you're only saying these things in attempt to comfort me and I know that you can't possibly have foresight into the future to actually know whether or not anything is going to be OK, for some reason I believe you." She looks up at him and he stares down at her. Truthfully, he missed half of what she said because fuck she uses way too many words, but the look in her eyes tells him he much have said something right and that makes him feel pretty good.

"Come on. Let's get going." He tosses a couple of pieces of fruit in his bag and takes her hand, grabbing his keys from the hook. "Here…" He fishes an apple out and hands it to her. "You should eat something."

"Oh, no thank you. I very rarely eat breakfast. But I appreciate the gesture." She shakes her head with a smile and he stares at her for a second before holding the fruit out again.

"Whatever, you need to eat. You're way to freaking skinny." He says gruffly. "I like my women with some curves." Her eyebrows shoot up at his words and he silently chastises himself. "We're late come on." He grabs her hand again and pulls her from the house, smiling a little when he hears her giggle behind him. Honestly, he doesn't even care that she's laughing at him because at least she's laughing.

* * *

**Rachel**

Amazingly enough she actually feels somewhat normal by the time they arrive at school. She knows without a doubt that that is due to Noah. Constantly cracking jokes or making comments or doing almost anything to make her laugh or smile or just generally not think about her fathers. He pulls into the parking lot of McKinley High School and turns the engine to his truck off.

"Are you sure?" He looks at her and she gives him a small smile.

"I'm sure." She nods and he heaves a sigh before jumping out of the truck and racing around to open her door before she's even had a chance to unbuckle her seatbelt. He lifts her easily from the cab before slamming the door shut and grabbing both of their book bags from the back. "Thank you Noah." She's about to reach for her bag when he grabs her hand, lacing his fingers through hers and she stares down at their entwined hands.

"Is this OK?" He asks slowly and she looks up to find him watching her. He almost looks nervous. Puck? Nervous? She never thought she'd see they day.

"I don't know, is it?" She stares at him, her eyes searching his. While he has been supportive, understanding, sweet and, dare she say it, loving to her in private they haven't actually really ventured out in public since their relationship has evolved, for lack of a better word.

"Yeah, it's OK." He beams and the sight of his happy grin causes her to smile her first real smile of the day. He drops her hand, sliding his arm around her shoulders as he pulls her bag along behind him. She tries to ignore the lingering glances from their classmates as he leads her down the hall. She hates that she half expects him to pull away from her when one of the baseball players makes a crude comment and she feels him tense next to her. "Stay here." He murmurs into her hair before kissing her temple gently and she watches wide eyed as he stalks after the other boy.

She cringes a little when she sees him throw the boy into the row of lockers. She doesn't know what he's saying but it's obviously enough to get the point across because Puck releases the other boy and slowly starts back down the hall toward her.

"Noah, what did you say to him?" She asks as he slides his arm around her again and guides her toward her locker.

"I told him to have some respect." He shrugs and she pauses in front of her locker, her hands fiddling nervously with the combination lock. "Listen, are you going to be OK today? I mean, I'm not going to see you until lunch?"

"Noah, you can't baby sit me all the time. I'll be fine." She slowly opens her locker before turning back to him. "You should go. You'll be late for class."

"Like I give a shit." He scoffs and she frowns. "Sorry." He mumbles. "OK, I'm going." He stares at her for a second and he sort of looks like he's going to say something. She looks up at him expectantly, her heart pounding in her chest for some unknown reason. Just when she's about to turn away, he finally steps forward, hooking his arm around her waist and drawing her flush against him. Her eyes flutter closed as his lips meet hers in a soft kiss.

"I'm sorry for everything, I hope you know that." He murmurs into her hair as he pulls her into a hug and she allows herself the pleasure of getting lost in it. His lips brush across her temple so lightly for a second she wonders if she imagined. He smiles down at her before kissing her mouth once more and heading toward his first class.

Sighing, she gripped the handle of her pink backpack and heads toward World History. She steps into the classroom just as final bell rings. She sees Quinn smiling at her, nodding to the empty seat next to her and makes her way toward the blonde girl. She slides into the desk and pulls out her books. Quinn gives her a questioning look and she plasters her best fake smile. Quinn doesn't seem to buy it but she at least lets it go, turning back to the lesson.

"Hey, you OK?" Quinn catches up to her after class. She looks at the girl next to her and before she can stop it, tears are filling her eyes. "Oh, God, Rach…" Quinn looks around quickly before grabbing her hand and pulling her into the girls washroom. "What happened? Are you OK? Is it Puck? What did he do? I'm going to kill. Wait till I tell Kurt! Kurt's going to kill him!"

"It's not Noah." She shakes her head miserably. She had been doing so well. The overwhelming sense of foreboding and fear that was coursing through her body at this moment had stayed at bay while Puck was with her, distracting her, keeping her sane. "I had a huge fight with my father last night, my daddy." She clarifies. "He forbid me to ever see Noah again." She pauses for a second, brushing the tears from her face. "So I left."

"You left?" Quinn's jaw drops in shock. "As in left? Where did you go?"

"Noah's mother was kind enough to take me in." Rachel looks down at her hands for a moment before looking back at Quinn. "Do you think I made a horrible mistake? I'm not completely sure what came over me in that moment. It was just the thought of not being able to see Noah…" She shakes her head slowly. "I'm having all of these feelings for him that I don't really understand."

"I don't think there's a right or wrong in this situation." Quinn says slowly. "Look, I've known Puck my whole life. For the most part, he's kind of a pig. He's crude and crass and pretty much an asshole to everyone…" Quinn pauses for a second when Rachel drops her head again. "except you." Rachel slowly looks up at her. "I don't know what you did, but you changed him. He's still crass and crude and sometimes an asshole, but he's different with you. It's like you center him or something." Quinn shrugs a little. "I don't know what's going to happen between you and Puck but I can guarantee you that boy was crazy about you long before we ever went to Las Vegas."

* * *

**Puck**

"I got a problem, Hummel." He stops in front of Kurt's locker right before lunch and the smaller boy looks at him, one eyebrow raised in question.

"Only one?" He smirks a little. "Well, if you give the lunch hour I'm sure I can get a full page list, starting with the haircut." Kurt eyes his Mohawk in disdain and Puck rolls his eyes. He doesn't have time for this shit. "Fine." Kurt sighs dramatically. "What's your problem?"

"I think I love my wife." He stops as the words come flying out of his mouth. What the fuck? That is so not what he meant to say.

"Well, I could have told you that a while ago." Kurt shuts his locker and turns to face the large football player. "But how is this a problem?"

"I don't know when it happened, but somewhere along the way Rachel, crazy, talks too much, makes me want to light myself on fire Rachel, became the reason I wake up in the morning and now she's upset and I…" Puck begins but stops when he's sees Kurt's eyes narrow. Shit. He's got that look in his eyes again. "Fuck, calm down, Hummel. It wasn't me… at least not directly." He runs his hand over his strip of hair. "Fuck!"

"Well, as stimulating as it is to stand here and listen to you express your impressive vocabulary, would you please tell me what's going on with Rachel." Kurt hikes his bag higher on his shoulder and eyes him.

"Look, you can't tell her I told you…" He glances over his shoulder quickly, scanning for Rachel. Fuck, he's so god damn whipped. "She got into a fight with her fathers last night. I'm not sure, but I think it was about me." He sighs. "She left, Kurt. She packed her shit and she left. She showed up on my doorstep."

"Sweet Mother of Prada!" Kurt gapes at him and Puck's brow furrows. What the fuck is he going on about? "What do you need?"

"I just need you to keep her busy after school. I gotta do something, you know." Puck rubs the back of his neck and Kurt eyes him for a second before nodding.

"I'll take care of it. Rachelwatch 2009. I'm on it." Kurt nods his head.

"Thanks Hummel." He mutters just as Rachel and Quinn approach. "Hey." He turns to her, slipping his arm around her shoulder and drawing her into his side, pressing a kiss on her temple. "How was your morning?"

"It's better now." She smiles leaning against him.

"So, Rachel…" Kurt immediately pipes up. "I've decided that you are in desperate need for some girl time!" He grins widely before looking up at Puck. "Sorry big boy, you're going to have to do without her for a few hours. She's coming shopping with me and Quinn."

"Wait, Quinn what?" The blonde looks confused for a second and both he and Kurt send her death glares. "Oh, right, shopping, yeah…" She tries to recover but fails miserably and Puck rolls his eyes.

"While I appreciate the offer, shopping is not exactly high on my list of leisure activities." Rachel smiles kindly at them.

"I'm not taking no for an answer Ms. Thing." Kurt shakes his head. "You're coming and that's it."

"It'll be fun." Quinn jumps in. "I promise."

"Well, if the two of you insist." Rachel finally concedes. "I suppose I've never really had the opportunity to take part in such a bonding activity before so this will be positive thing in the long run in that it'll…"

"Baby…" Puck leans down to murmur in her ear. "Just say yes." She flushes a little and glances at him.

"I accept your gracious offer, Kurt, thank you." She turns back to Kurt and Quinn. "I will meet you both in the parking lot after school."

"Wonderful darling." Kurt links his arm through Rachel's grinning like a Cheshire cat.

The rest of the day kind of goes by in a blur for Puck and before he knows what's happening, he's standing in the parking lot watching Rachel drive away with Kurt, Quinn and Britney (who apparently Quinn had recruited in Rachelwatch 2009 - fuck now he's starting to think like Hummel, he's really got to get that kid out of his head). He sighs a little before heading toward his truck. The drive is too quick for his liking and he sits staring at the house for a long moment before sighing and climbing out of the truck. He makes his way to the door and stares at it for a second before reaching out and ringing the doorbell. A few moments later the door opens and he finds him face to face to with David Berry.

"Well, you have a lot of nerve showing up here." Rachel's father glares at him and Puck bites his tongue. Telling Rachel's father off is not why he came over here.

"David, shut up!" Andrew Berry appears next to him. "Is Rachel with you? Is she OK?"

"She's with Kurt and Quinn." He shakes his head and Andrew Berry sighs heavily. "But she's fine, physically at least. She doesn't know that I'm here. I wanted to talk to the two of you."

"Come in." Andrew nudges David out of the way and holds the door open and Puck hesitates for a second before stepping inside.

"Look, I don't know what happened here last night…" Puck pauses for a second as he stares at Rachel's fathers. "All I know is that Rachel showed up at my house crying and I'm guessing that the fight was about me and I can tell you that I feel like crap about that. I didn't want to come between the three of you. I get where you're coming from. I know that you look at me and see a Lima Loser and that you think that's she's too good for me. And the truth is you're right. She is too good for me. She is way too good for me. She deserves so much better but the thing is, for some reason when she looks at me she doesn't see a Lima Loser, she sees the man that I could be and she makes me want to be that man for her. She makes me want to be better." Puck sighs heavily.

Fuck! He can't believe he said that to Rachel's fathers. Man, Rachel Berry has completely ruined him.

"I don't know why I came here." He shoves his hands in his pocket nervously. "But we both know that Rachel is way too stubborn to make the first move and I figured you should know that she's OK."

The room is completely silent for a long moment as the three men stare at each other and suddenly Puck feels incredibly uncomfortable. Man, this thing is so fucked up. He's basically here trying to win over her parents _after_ he marries her.

"Thank you for letting us know that she's alright." Andrew finally speaks. "We didn't sleep last night at all and I realize that it must have taken a lot for you to come over here like this. It's clear that you genuinely care about Rachel and I'm glad for that. It's a comfort to know that at least she's with someone who's going to protect her and considering Rachel's reaction last night, it's fairly obvious that you mean a lot to her as well, but do you have to be married to care about each other?"

"That's not up to me, Mr. Berry, because I'm going to be here for as long as she wants me here. If she wants an annulment I'll give it to her, but if she wants to do this I'm on board for that too." Puck says slowly, staring at his feet for a second. He really can't believe he's having this conversation and he _really, really, _can't believe he's about to admit this to Rachel's parents. "You have no reason to believe me, but I do love your daughter. I've never loved anyone before, besides my mom and my sister, but her, I'd do anything for her and I don't even think she realizes it." He swallows hard and stares at the Berrys. "I told Rachel that I would always be there for her and I intend to keep that promise. And I know that I should probably tell her to come home and work things out." He shrugs. "But I'm not going to push her into something that she doesn't want to do."

"That's actually fair." Andrew Berry nods. "Even you tried, I doubt it would work. As you said, she's far too stubborn. Thank you for stopping by Noah and letting us know how she is." Puck rubs the back of his neck nervously and nods at both of the Mr. Berrys before practically bolting from the house.

Holy Mother of Fuck! He breathes a heavy sigh as he climbs into his truck. He doesn't know if it was a mistake or not coming over here but his mom's words had stuck in his head. _You better know what you're doing with this girl because she just gave up everything for you_. She was right. Rachel had given up everything for him. She loved her dads more than anything and she had walked away from them for him. He was the cause so he had to make it right, or at least he had to try. Who knows, he probably made the whole thing worse.

Sighing again he starts the engine and heads toward his house. He's just pulling in the driveway when Kurt's SUV pulls in behind him and Rachel hops out of the backseat, waving at Quinn and Kurt.

"Hi." She smiles up at him and he notices that her smile seems genuine and he's grateful for that. He makes a mental note to thank Hummel tomorrow. Did he really just think that? God Damn it! His eyes meet Rachel's again and the sadness of this morning is almost gone. Ah, shit, he really is going to have to thank Hummel tomorrow. But as Rachel leans up and presses her lips against his, he can't help but think that having to endure Kurt's smug smile is totally worth it if it means she's smiling.

"How was shopping?" He wraps his arm around her shoulders as he digs his house key out and they make their way to the front door.

"It was…. Interesting. Kurt's can be very intimidating when he wants to be. He saw a sweater that he wanted that was on sale but someone else reached for it, for a moment I honestly thought he was going to tackle him." She says as he unlocks the door and holds it open so she can enter.

Wow, he really is whipped. _You totally love it, Puckerman, don't even try to deny it._ Kurt's voice is back but this time he can't even groan or sigh, because damn it, Beyonce's right. He likes being whipped by her. He likes doing things for her. As long as it means she'll keep looking at him the way she is right now.

"Are you hungry?" He asks as they make their way to the kitchen and he pulls the fridge door open. "I could make us some…" He looks back up and stops when he sees her perched on the counter, legs dangling. How the fuck did he luck into this? Into her? Before he knows what's happening, he's striding across the kitchen to in front of her and she stares at him wide eyed. Fuck! His palms are sweating and his heart is pounding so hard he's surprised she can't hear it.

"Noah?" Her voice is quiet and he looks at her for another second before reaching out and tangling his fingers in her hair as he pulls her to him, his lips capturing hers.

"I love you Rachel." He murmurs when he pulls away a few seconds later, resting his forehead against hers. She stares at him in silence for a long time before a smile spreads across her face and her eyes twinkle.

"I love you too Noah." She finally whispers, her cheeks flushing pink slightly and in that moment, Puck is sure he could die a happy man.

**A/N - Hey guys, I just wanted to let you know that this may be my last update till after Xmas. I have so much crap to do so I'm just not sure I'm going to have the time to update. I'm going to try but I can't make any promises. **

**I hope you liked this chapter, I really wanted to get one more chapter up before the holidays so I kind of rushed a little bit and seeing as this may be the last chapter for a little while, I wanted to leave things on a positive note. Please review. Good, Bad, Ugly… Let me hear it! **

**Thanks again for all of your support and I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday! Seasons Greetings!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Puck**

"I love you too Noah." Rachel whispers, her cheeks flushing pink slightly and in that moment, Puck is sure he could die a happy man.

She stares up at him, biting her bottom lip slightly. He can't stop himself from grinning as he nudges her legs open and steps closer to her, pulling her against him. They stare at each other for a second before Rachel pulls his face down to hers. He groans loudly, gripping her shoulders tightly. Her legs wrap around his waist as she lifts herself up against him and Puck grips her butt firmly, pressing against her. Her arms tighten around his neck as she brings her lips to his ear, her breath tickling his skin and causing him at harden almost instantly.

"Maybe we could eat after?"

She giggles and he suddenly finds himself laughing, kissing her mouth hard as she clings his neck, legs linked firmly around his waist and he makes his way toward the stairs. Her hands are already pushing his shirt up, stroking his back as he stumbles up the stairs. They fall back onto his bed and his mouth attacks her again. Her tongue sweeps into his mouth and he grips the back of her head, trying to taste more. She tastes like strawberries and he decides in that moment that they are his new favourite food.

"Oh God, Noah, please don't stop…" Her voice comes out in a moan as his hands slide down and up the practically non-existant skirt she's wearing. His fingers brush across her panties and he pushes them aside to stroke her.

"Rachel, are you sure? Because we don't have to do this." He looks up at her, his green eyes searching her darker ones for any sign of doubt or uncertainty. Instead she smiles and leans forward to kiss him, bucking her hips slightly against his hand and he eyes her for a second before grinning. "You don't know what you've gotten yourself into little girl."

He gently pushes her onto her back before raising her skirt and sliding her panties off. Her breathing is shallow as she stares at him and he raises his eyes to her for a brief second before leaning down and brushing his tongue across her wet mound. She gasped, her whole body shuddering and Puck smirked up at her before throwing one of her legs over his shoulder and gently parts her folds. He can feel her shaking underneath him and he slowly leans down, flicking his tongue across her swollen nub and she cries out.

"Noah, please, oh God, please…." Her hands gripped the comforter and she arched her back as he continued to lap at her. Her hands moved to hold his head in place as her orgasm coursed through her. She bucked against him and his lifted his eyes to watch her, the sight almost makes him explode right then and there. "Noah, that was…"

"…only the beginning sweetheart." Puck murmured in her ear and smiled when she shuddered underneath him.

Slowly he reached between them and pulled her pink sweater over her head, tossing it to the floor as he stared in awe at the sight before him. Her breasts are held firmly in place by a simple pink bra but he's pretty sure he has never seen a sexier thing in his life. Dipping his head he captured her lips again and she moaned loudly against his mouth. Fuck, did he love her sexual appetite. She couldn't get enough, which worked out well for him, because God knows he couldn't get enough of her.

She reached for his shirt and pulled her lips away from him for a moment, yanking the t-shirt over his head. Her eyes locked with his and he felt his breath quicken as she reached behind her to unhook her bra.

Fuck, what the hell was the matter with him? He was actually fucking nervous. Shit, you'd think he was a virgin the way he was getting on. He swallowed hard as she removed the bra and he stared at her bare chest, his mouth practically watering . With what could only be described as a grunt, he pulled her forward and spun them so that he was sitting on the edge of the bed and she was straddling him. She gasped as his hand ducked beneath her skirt again and he gently probed her with one finger as his mouth sought out her right breast and sucked on her expertly as her head rolled back.

"Noah, Noah, Noah…" She chanted his name as she rocked against his hand and he expertly inserted another finger slowly into her, causing her to cry out again. His lips slowly traced a trail to her shoulder and he buried his face in the crook of her neck as she strained against him. He groaned when he felt her start to tighten again. "I'm so close, Noah, please, please…" She practically begged in his ear and his whole body stiffened as he pulled away to look at her - her eyes wide, chest heaving.

He crushed his mouth against her once more time before reluctantly removing his fingers from her and lifting her off his lap, steadying her on her feet. He fumbled slightly with the buttons on his jeans when he saw her reach behind and unzip her skit, letting it fall to the floor so that she was completely naked in front of him. He finally pushed them off and sank back on to the bed as Rachel climbed back onto his lap. He moaned loudly as his tip brushed across her folds and he could feel her warmth.

"I love you, Rachel." He pressed his mouth against her and slowly lifted her, lowering her onto him, sheathing himself completely in her. Her cry was muffled by his mouth on hers. He held her still allowing her a moment to adjust while he savoured the feeling of her.

After a few moments, he gripped her hips and slowly began to move her on him. Fuck, he couldn't get over how fucking tight she was. Their pace quickened and soon her walls start to clench around him and he felt that familiar feeling low in his gut. He pulled out of her almost completely before slamming back into her, sending them both over the edge.

She let out a strangled cry as she collapsed on top of him and Puck held her close against his chest for a long time as he tried to calm himself down. Finally he pressed one more kiss onto her lips before slowly, almost reluctantly, lifting her off of him. Instantly, he missed the feel of being wrapped in her. Her breathing is slowly starting to return to normal when he rests her in the bed and climbs in next to her, pulling the blankets up and wrapping his arms tightly around her.

"Noah, that was…" Rachel murmurs, planting soft kisses on his chest. "That was amazing." She looks up at him, still slightly out of breath, hair messed up, lips swollen. Jesus, his wife was beyond fucking hot.

"You're amazing." He whispers leaning down to press his lips against hers. "I love you Rachel Berry." He hears her giggle as he nips at her neck and her arms slide around him as he settles on top of her again.

"I love you too Noah Puckerman." She murmurs against his mouth and he smiles as he deepens the kiss. She looks away slightly embarrassed when he breaks the kiss and he watches her for a second.

"Hey, what?" He lifts her chin to look at her as she blushes before looking away again. "Berry, what?"

"Puckerman." She says almost in a whisper. "What would you say if I wanted to be Rachel Puckerman?" She looks up at him slowly and he stares at her in silence.

* * *

**Rachel**

He's wearing that look again. It's the same look he had on his face in her room after he kissed her and he bolted then. He continues to stare at her and she starts to feel embarrassed. Maybe she was wrong. Maybe he doesn't want this. Maybe he doesn't want her. But the way he's been acting… and he said that he loved her.

"Rachel, are you sure about this?" He asks slowly, his eyes staring down into her intensely and she shivers - that's the kind of effect Noah Puckerman has on her. "Because I don't want to push into something that you're not sure about. The fact that you would even want to…" He leans down to kiss her softly, resting his forehead against hers.

"I don't know what we're doing here Noah. Maybe we are a making a mistake, but maybe we're not. Maybe we can actually do this…" She trails off as she looks at him and she can't help but wonder when Noah Puckerman became the most important thing in her life - more important than her daddies, than her dream of becoming a star, more important than anything.

"I don't want to push you Rachel." He pulls her closer and holds onto her tightly. "I don't want you to think that you…"

"This is what I want, Noah." She looks up at him. "It's why I said yes in Las Vegas. It's why I didn't want to sell our wedding rings, it's why I left my dads' house. I want to be Rachel Puckerman."

The room is silent for a long time as he stares at her and Rachel bites her lip nervously, again wondering if maybe she overstepped her bounds. While she and Noah have very much been playing the part of a couple recently, they are still only 18 and perhaps he feels like he doesn't want to be tied down.

"How about Rachel Berry-Puckerman?" He murmurs in her ear, sending shivers down her spine as she looks up to find him smiling down at her. "That way I can still call you Berry."

"Rachel Berry-Puckerman, I think it's perfect." She settles herself against him, resting her head on his chest and sighs contentedly when he kisses the top of her head. "I love you, Noah."

"I love you too." He whispers into her hair, kissing her head again. "Fuck, are we actually doing this?"

"I think we are." She looks up at him to find him smiling down at her and she smiles resting her head against his chest again as her eyes slowly drift shut.

She wakes awhile later to Puck's hand tracing a circle on her back. "What time is it?"

"I have no idea…" He whispers, kissing her shoulder lightly and she feels her whole body flush a little. What is it about him? She just can't seem to get enough. "Have I told you how unbelievably fucking beautiful you are?"

While normally she detests swearing, hearing him call her 'unbelievably fucking beautiful' somehow seems like the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to her. He climbs on top of her, pressing a soft kiss to her lips. His hand slides down slowly and nudges her legs open and she gasps when his fingers brush across her center and she looses all train of thought.

"Noah…" She breathes into his ear and he groans as one finger slowly, agonizingly slips inside of her and her head falls back against the pillow. She lifts her hips, pressing against him as he gently inserts another finger. He plays her like his guitar until she feels that slow build in her belly. "Oh God, Noah!" She cries out loudly and his lips crash against hers as her body spasms around his fingers and she explodes. They lay there for a moment and Rachel tries to focus on stabilizing her breathing.

"You know, I love it when you scream my name like that." His voice is husky in her ear and she shivers. "In fact, I love it when you scream my name period." His mouth descends on hers and she sinks into him, pulling him as close to her as possible and hiking her legs up around his hips.

She can feel him brushing against her and her eyes roll back in her head from the sensation. His beautiful green eyes lock on her as she clings to him tightly as he pushes forward and enters her for the second time that day.

"So beautiful, so beautiful…" He practically chants into her hair as he pumps in and out of her and her whole body feels like it's on fire. Unlike earlier, this time is slow and gentle and she can't stop the tears from filling her eyes as she pulls him closer and buries her face in his neck. He pulls away to look at her and frowns when he sees her tears. But she smiles a little when he leans down to kiss them away and she captures his lips in a searing kiss, trying to pour everything that she feels for him, but can't say, into it.

When he finally collapses on top of her, her mind is still foggy and she stares at him with hazy eyes. He kisses her deeply once more before slowly pulling out of her and collapsing on the bed next to her. Rolling on his side he draped one arm lazily over her waist and she sighs when he buries his face in her neck, nipping softly at the sensitive skin.

Smiling, she shifts to face him and shivers as his hand runs over her hip.

"I love you Noah Puckerman." She whispers and he watches her for a second before brushing her hair off her shoulder and planting a soft kiss there. He continues to kiss up her neck until he reaches her lips and he brushes his across them softly.

"I love you too Rachel Berry-Puckerman." His face breaks out into a glorious grin as he says her new name and she feels her heart swell as she looks at him. Who knows, maybe she's making a huge mistake. Maybe she'll regret this in 5 years, but somehow she doesn't think so because she's sure that no man will ever look at her the way he is right now.

Puck, Noah, her husband. She smiles at the thought and moves closer, cuddling close to him as he wraps his arms around her. His hands trail her back and she feels her eyes starting to drift shut again when suddenly the door bangs open.

"Mom!! Noah has a girl in his room!"

* * *

**Puck**

He groans loudly at the sound of his sister's voice and Rachel gasps, ducking under the covers.

"Damn it, Abby! Get out!" Puck snaps at his sister as Rachel burrows deeper under the blankets. His little sister sticks her tongue out at him before turning and running around the room.

"Mom!" Abby's voice echoes through the house as she stomps down the stairs and Puck sighs, leaning back against the pillows. Fuck! His mom was so going to murder his ass.

"I'm so embarrassed." the top of Rachel's head pokes out from under the comforter. "I can't believe your little sister just walked in on us."

"Noah! Rachel! Downstairs now!" His mom's voice comes up the stairs and he cringes a little.

"Oh God!" Rachel buries her face in his shoulder and he can feel the heat coming off of her so he knows without having to look that she's blushing.

"Come on baby." He kisses the top of her head quickly. "We should probably get dressed and get down there before she comes up here."

"Oh my…" Rachel gasps again and jumps from the bed quickly gathering her clothes and pulling them on. Puck watches her for a millisecond before following suit and pulling his jeans and t-shirt on. Puck reaches for her hand as they descend the stairs and Rachel hesitates for a second outside the kitchen and runs her hand nervously through her hair.

"I can't go in there…." She whispers, her voice slightly panicky and he can't help but smile down at her.

"We kind of have to." He kisses her forehead gently and she bites her lip nervously. He tightens his hand around hers and she clings to his arm as they slowly walk into the kitchen. Abby's nowhere in sight and his mom is sitting at the kitchen table, waiting for them.

"Sit down." His mom looks up at them. He can feel Rachel tense next to him and he silently pulls out her chair as she glances up at him with a small smile before sliding into the seat, staring intently at the table.

"Where's Abby?" Puck asks as he sits down slowly, staring at his hands. He cringes a little when he thinks of his little sister. Fuck, he really hopes she didn't see anything because that would just be wrong on so many levels.

"I sent her to her room." His mom sighs. "Now, would one you care to tell me what my nine-year old daughter just walked in on."

"Mom, I didn't…." He begins but Rachel cuts him off.

"Mrs. Puckerman, you have deepest and most sincere apology. It was completely inappropriate for Noah and I to do such a thing in your home and I am horrified that Abigail had to witness that." She rambles on, her face bright red in embarrassment and Puck glances at his mom, who's watching her silently. "I understand completely if you no longer want me to stay here anymore and I will find other accommodations immediately…"

"Rachel, stop!" His mom holds her hand up and Rachel clamps her mouth shut. "I didn't say that you had to leave." She pauses for a second as she looks from Rachel to Puck and back again. "I'm not so naïve that I didn't think think was happening, just please tell me that the two of you were safe." She stares at Puck intensely.

"Yes, Mrs. Puckerman, I promise that we took the necessary precautions. As much as I love your son and want to spend my life with him, being a mother at 18 is not something that I am prepared for." Rachel says quickly and he looks at her, a little shocked at how easily and readily she expressed her feelings for him, and also thankful that she seems to be taking the lead with this conversation because he _really_ doesn't want to have this conversation with his mom.

"OK, that's good. That's good." His mom murmurs under her breath as she stares at Rachel. "Did you just say that you love Noah?"

"Yes." Rachel smiles in his direction, reaching for his hand. "I do love your son. Very much."

"Um, mom, me and Rachel…" Puck begins slowly, glancing at the tiny brunette sitting next to him and she squeezes his hand reassuringly. "We've decided not to get the annulment. We're going to try and make this work."

"OK…." His mom says slowly, taking a deep breath and slowly letting it out.

"I realize that you must think we're rushing into this, but I can promise you Mrs. Puckerman, I am not the type of person who makes decisions without thinking about the consequences. I am certain that I'm making the right decision. My feelings for your son are very real." Rachel starts speed talking again. His mom nods silently and slowly looks at Puck, who glances at Rachel.

"I love her mom." He says simply, looking back at his mom. She watches him for a second before slowly nodding. She knows those words don't come easily to him and he's definitely never said them about another girl before.

"Do you realize how difficult this is going to be?" She asks them slowly, her eyes full of concern. "I'm not questioning your feelings for each other but marriage takes a lot more than love. I fell in love when I was your age and it was very real but we got too serious too fast and…"

"I'm not him, Mom!" Puck's voice comes out much harsher than he intended and both women stare at him. Shit, he hadn't meant to snap like that but he hates that his own mother could possibly compare him to that son of a bitch! He would never abandon his family the way that bastard did.

"I know that, honey." His mom reaches out to pat his arm gently and he can feel Rachel watching him with concern. "I know that you are nothing like that. I didn't mean to imply that you were and I'm sorry. I just meant that life can get really hard sometimes and I hope that the two of you are prepared for that. But, all of that being said, I hope that I'm wrong and that the two of you can beat the odds."

"Thank you Mom." He stands quickly, pulling her into a hug, tears filling his eyes and he feels like a little boy as he clings to her. "I don't know what we're going to do yet…" He glances at Rachel quickly. "We'll get a place or something…"

"Shush…" His mom silences him with a wave of her hand. "You don't have to go anywhere. You'll stay here, save for college. I'm not going to let this affect either of your futures." Puck nods silently and hugs his mom again, more thankful for her than he's ever been in his life.

"Thank you Mrs. Puckerman." The two of them turn to find Rachel watching them, tears in her own eyes.

"You're family now, Rachel." His mom gives her a warm smile before enveloping her in hug. "You'll always have a home here."

They slowly separate and Rachel gives her a watery smile before moving to slide her arm around his waist as he wrapped his around her shoulder.

"I suppose I should contact my fathers." Rachel says slowly. "I'll need to collect the rest of my belongings."

"I think that's the right decision, Rachel." His mom looks down at her. "They're still your parents and they may not agree with what you're doing, but they do love you. We're also going to need to talk to Abby, explain that Rachel's going to be living with us from now on."

"Again, Mrs. Puckerman, I sincerely apologize that she walked in on Noah and I the way that she did…" Rachel starts.

"Well, we can't really change that." His mom stops her, eyeing the two of them seriously. "Just from now, can you make sure the door is locked."

**A/N - Hey Guys! I hope everyone had a fantastic holiday. I've said it before, but I'm going to say it again, thank you so much for all of the reviews! Please keep it up! ****I hope you liked this chapter. I was in serious need for some Puckleberry lovin'. LOL. ****And in case I don't get to post again before New Years - Happy 2010, everyone! Cheers!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey Guys!! I hope 2010 is treating everyone well so far :) ****I am so sorry that it took me so long to get this chapter up. It was just so hard to get back into the swing of writing after the Holidays. There's probably a ton of spelling mistakes, etc. b/c I didn't proof read very much I just really wanted to get it up. Anyway, I don't think this is my best work, but hopefully you guys will like it. **

* * *

**Puck**

"Hey Abs…" Puck knocked on his little sister's bedroom door while Rachel helped his mother with dinner. He's not going to lie, he wasn't all that thrilled leaving the two of them alone but he needed to talk to his sister. He owed Abby that much. For the longest time, it had just been the two of them. When their dad left, his mom kind of lost it for a bit and it was left to him to take care of Abby. He was a badass but Abby was his baby sister. It was different with her. It was his job to protect her and it should come from him that Rachel would be living with them.

"Is your girlfriend still here?" She looked up at him with a smirk that is strangely reminiscent of his own and he can't help but chuckle at little.

"Yes, Rachel is still here." He nudges her gently and sits down next to her on the bed. "I want to talk to you about what you walked in on…"

"You and Rachel were having sex. I know that. But don't worry, I didn't see anything." She shrugged a little, turning back to her book and he frowned as he looked down at her. How the hell did his baby sister know what sex was? She was only 9 for fuck's sake!

"Don't look so shocked Noah. I'm almost 10." Abby shrugs again and Puck feels like he's about throw up. Granted, he lost his virginity at 12, but that was him not his little sister. The thought that some little prick would be doing those things to her in a mere two years… OK really can't think about those things because if he does, he's going to punch something and really he doesn't need to test his mother's patience with him anymore than he already has.

"Right, OK, well I didn't want to talk to you about… that." He says finally. "I wanted to talk to you about Rachel."

"Rachel?" Abby looks up at him. "I think she's pretty Noah."

"Well, I think she's pretty too." Puck smiles down at his sister, pausing for a second. "Abby, Rachel she's really important to me…"

"You love her, don't her." Abby grins up at him cheekily and he shakes his head with a smile.

"Yeah, I do love her. And she from some crazy reason loves me too. She's going to be living with us from now… is that OK with you?"

"Why isn't she living at her house?" Abby stares up at him confused and Puck sighs a little before lifting her up and settling her in his lap.

"Well, Rachel dads don't really like me very much." Puck ruffles her hair lightly and Abigail stares at him for second.

"Well, you can be kind of a dope head sometimes." She sticks her tongue out at him and he mock glares at her before tickling her sides. "Noah, stop!" She squeals, struggling to get out of his arms.

"I'm OK with Rachel living here." She says when he finally stops tickling her. "And I wouldn't worry about Rachel's dad liking you. You can be a dope head sometimes but you're a really good big brother too."

"Thanks Abs." Puck gripped her in fake head lock and Abigail squealed again in laughter. He threw her easily over his shoulder, tickling her again.

"Sorry to interrupt, you two." They both look toward the door to find Rachel watching them with a smile on her face. "Your mom sent me, dinner's ready."

"Oh, OK." Puck tickled Abby one more time before setting her on her feet and she grinned up at him before heading out the door.

"I'm glad you're going to be living with us, Rachel." Puck watched in awe as his little sister threw her arms around his wife's neck and couldn't help but smile.

"Well, it makes me happy that you feel that way Abigail." Rachel beams down at her. "And I've never had a little sister, so you can be like my honorary little sister."

"That would be awesome! Do you like Hannah Montana? I love Hannah Montana…" Abby's voice trails off as she grabs Rachel's hand and pulls her from the room, leaving Puck behind. He quickly chases after them and Rachel smiles at him over his shoulder as Abby yammers on about whether Rachel is Team Edward or Team Jacob.

"Well, I have to admit, I am a sucker for a gentleman so I'd have to say that I was Team Edward." Rachel tells his sister as they reach the main level and head toward the kitchen.

"If you like gentlemen, why are you with my brother?" Rachel bursts out laughing as Abby spins on her heel and bolts into the kitchen before he can say anything to her. Puck shakes his head with a smile before looking down at his tiny wife.

"You about done?" He eyes her playfully and she grins as she moves closer to him, linking her arms around his neck.

"I'm sorry." She leans up, pressing her lips against his. "You're amazing with her, you know. And it's pretty clear that she adores you."

"She's Abby…" Puck shrugs.

"Why do you always do that?" Rachel shakes her head, kissing him again. "It doesn't make you less of a man because you love your little your sister."

"I know that, but I still have a rep to protect, you know." He shrugs again and Rachel chuckles.

"Have you forgotten who you're married to?" She shakes her head with a knowing smile. "You can pretend all you want, but deep down you're a softy. I've seen it."

"Can you two stop smooching so we can eat please." Abby stuck her head out from the kitchen. He gives her a look but Rachel just laughs and kisses him once more before taking Abby's hand and following her into the kitchen.

What the hell had he gotten himself into. There were three people in his life that he actually gave a shit about and they were all now living in this house. This was a recipe for disaster, he was almost sure of it. They were going to band together and he was going to be completely screwed.

Shaking his head, he made his way into the kitchen to find Abby talking animatedly to Rachel. Rachel looked up and her eyes met his for moment before she smiled and turned her full attention back to Abby.

"You can serve yourself, Noah." His mom pats his shoulder as she sits down and Rachel immediately turns to her with a smile, complimenting her on the meal.

He stays rooted where he is for a moment as he watches Rachel with his mom and sister. She looks up again and this time he smiles as he crosses the room to kiss the top of her head before heading to the stove to get his supper.

* * *

**Rachel**

She smiles as Puck kisses the top of her head and goes to get his food. Her eyes follow him as he moves around the kitchen before she snaps herself out of it and turns her attention back to his sister. He would never admit it but she knows how much Puck loves his little sister. The way he is with her is a side of him that even she's never seen and she finds herself loving him a little bit more than she did. If only her fathers could see this side of him. If they could only see the loving older brother as opposed to the Mohawked football player; Noah instead of Puck.

They have a relatively pleasant dinner, which she's thankful for. Abby only makes a few cracks about walking in on them - which elicit blushes from Rachel and dirty looks from Puck.

"The meal was lovely, Mrs. Puckerman. Thank you very much." Rachel says once they finish and begin to clear the table.

"I've already told you to call me Sarah." She smiles, taking the plates from Rachel.

"Noah, I wanna watch Hannah Montana!" Abigail grabs her brother's hand and pulls him from the room.

"You don't have to stay here and help me, Rachel." Noah's mother smiled at Rachel as she began filling the sink with hot water. " I can take care of these."

"Oh, I don't mind Mrs… Sarah." Rachel laughs nervously and Mrs. Puckerman smiles before handing her the dish towel.

"Well, I'm not going to turn down the help. You can dry." She turns to the sink and begins washing the dishes as Rachel moves to stand next to her, drying each dish with careful precision. She laughs to herself, knowing that Puck would probably make fun of the obsessive compulsive way she's drying the plate.

"Actually, I'm glad that we have a chance to talk alone, without Noah around." Mrs. Puckerman stops what she's doing and dries her hands before turning to face Rachel.

"Um… OK…" Rachel carefully places the plate on the counter and looks at her mother-in-law. It still surprises her at how natural and easy that sounds, like she was always meant to be a Puckerman and Sarah Puckerman was always meant to be her mother-in-law.

"First, I'd like to say thank you." The older woman smiles and Rachel stares at her, slightly confused. "I don't know what you did, or how you did it, but you changed Noah. I love my son, but I'm not blind to who is.. or should I say who he was." She pauses for second and Rachel continues to stare. "You said that he was rough around the edges, and you were right, but I've seen those edges starting to smooth out since he's been with you."

"Well, I guess I owe you a thank you as well." Rachel drops her head for a brief moment to collect her thoughts before looking back at Puck's mother. "I know you think that we're too young this but thank you for at least trying to be supportive." She pauses for a moment, her hands fidgeting nervously. "And thank you for letting me stay here. You certainly had no obligation to do so and your kindness… well, it's almost been overwhelming."

"Rachel, sweetheart, I've already told you, you're family now. You will always have a home here." Rachel blinks back tears as she's enveloped in a warm hug and for a moment she wonders if this is what it was like to have a mother. She loves her dads, there's no question about that, and she wouldn't change a thing about her childhood but she would be lying if she said she never wondered what it would be like to have a mom.

"That being said…" Mrs. Puckerman pulls away to look at her. "You still need to see your fathers. You have to explain all of this to them. They deserve that much. That's my only condition." She hugs Rachel one more time before smiling and turning back to the sink to finish washing the dishes.

She's right. Rachel is more than willing to admit that she's right. Regardless of everything, they're still her parents. They're her dad and daddy and even though they can't accept her relationship with Puck, it doesn't mean she doesn't love them.

"And it needs to be soon, Rachel." Mrs. Puckerman puts the last of the dishes in the rack and Rachel nods silently. She knows she needs to do this, but knowing that doesn't mean she's looking forward to it. "I know you're scared, but they're your parents. They love you. Even when they don't agree with you, they still love you." Noah's mother gives her an encouraging smile. "I can't promise that they'll accept your decision but I can promise that you'll feel better knowing you tried."

* * *

**Puck**

He stepped away from the kitchen door feeling slightly guilty about eavesdropping on the conversation between Rachel and his mom. He also feels more than slightly guilty about coming between Rachel and her fathers.

She won't admit it but he knows that she misses them and he really hates that it's his fault they're on such bad terms. Sure, Rachel would say differently but he knows it the truth. If it wasn't for him, she wouldn't be fighting with her dads.

"What are you doing?" He looks up at the sound of her voice and smiles when he sees her watching him from the kitchen door.

He's crazy. He has to be crazy because he should definitely not be feeling these things at 18 - fuck, not too long ago he would have said that he wouldn't be feeling these things ever! And yet, here he is, head over heals for Rachel Berry. _Rachel Berry-Puckerman_. Kurt's voice echoes in his head and for the first time ever he doesn't groan because he's actually happy.

Tiny, crazy, doesn't know when to stop talking, makes him want to light himself on fire, Rachel Berry-Puckerman makes him happy. His family has accepted her but more importantly, she's accepted him - flaws and all. Hence the happy. And now it's time to make her happy.

She needs to make up with her fathers. Hell, if he's being honest (and a little selfish, he's man enough to admit it) _he_ needs her make up with her fathers because he doesn't want her waking up one day regretting her choice to be with him. Badass or not, he doesn't think he would be able to handle that.

"You've got to see your dads."

* * *

**Rachel**

Rachel fidgeted nervously as she stood in front of her dads' house. She had resisted but Noah and Mrs. Puckerman had practically forced her from the house… well not so much Mrs. Puckerman as Noah. He kept going on about how it needed to be done for the sake of his sanity. She wasn't entirely sure what he meant by that but she did know that he was right about her needing to talk to her fathers. Of course knowing that this needed to be done didn't make the trek to the front door of the house she had grown up in any easier. Glancing up at Puck, she breathed a sigh of relief when she felt his hand squeeze hers. She's thankful that he's here with her.

Taking a deep breath she marched determinedly toward the front door with Puck close behind her but hesitated when she reached for the handle. Should she just walk in? Considering the way they left things that didn't seem appropriate so she settled for ringing the doorbell. A few seconds later the door opens and she finds herself face to face with her dad.

"Rachel, oh honey!" He immediately pulls her into a hug. "Thank god you're home. We have been so worried about you."

"Dad…" She reluctantly pulls away and stares up at him. "I'm not home. I just came to get the rest of my things." Her heart breaks when his face falls and she blinks back tears.

"Rachel, sweetheart, please, we can work this out. Your father has calmed down." Her dad pleads with her and she sighs as she looks up at him.

"Dad, I…." Her voice is quiet. "Is daddy home?"

"He's upstairs." Her dad says slowly. He slowly moves holding the door open and his eyes meet Puck's for the first time. "Why don't the both of you come in. It's nice to see you again, Noah."

Rachel gapes at her father before looking up at Puck. Nice to see him again? Well, maybe this will go better than she thought. If her dads really are starting to accept him as apart of her life. Granted accepting him as her boyfriend is a lot different than accepting him as her husband. But she needs to stop getting ahead of herself. Once thing at a time Rachel. One thing at a time.

"Thank you, Mr. Berry." Puck nods politely and she smiles up at him, moving closer to him as he wraps his arm around her waist. Her dad watches the two of them for a moment and Rachel can't quite read the expression on his face.

"Why don't the two of you go sit down and I'll get your father." Her dad says with a nod before turning and heading up the stairs. Rachel watches him go before taking a deep breath and pulling Puck into the living room.

"Well, that went better than expected." She says as she settles herself on the couch and Puck sits down next to her. "Granted, dad has always been slightly more level headed than daddy, but he certainly seems to have warmed up to you a bit."

Puck nods, murmuring something under his breath that she can't quite make out but before she has a chance to ask him her fathers appear in the room.

"Hi daddy." She says quietly, slowly standing up.

"Hi daddy?" He stares at her, shaking his head. "After what you've put this family through all you can say is 'hi daddy'?"

"David…" Her dad says in a warning tone and her daddy simply shakes his head.

"Fine." He sighs heavily. "Rachel, we need to put this behind us. I'm willing to accept my responsibility. I overreacted and should have never said those things to you…." He glances at Puck who is standing silently next to Rachel. "And I'm willing to admit that I was wrong about you Noah. While I'm still not convinced that you are the right boy for my daughter, it is clear that you genuinely care about her."

"Oh thank you daddy." Rachel blinks back tears as she throws her arms around her him.

"Of course honey." He smiles as he pulls away. "I won't object to the two of you seeing each other and I'm hoping that we can put all of this behind us."

"Um…" Rachel's smile fades as she looks up at Puck. She knew it was too good to be true. "Daddy, you don't understand." She looks back at her daddy before glancing at her dad. "Noah and I… we've decided not to get the annulment. We're going to stay married."

The silence in the room is almost deafening and Rachel steps closer to Puck, her fingers entwining with his as she grips his hand.

"Have you lost your mind?!" Her daddy's voice echoes through the house and Rachel cringes. She definitely knew it was too good to be true.

"David." Her dad places his hand on her daddy's shoulder before turning to look at the both of them. "Do you really need to do this? Do you have to be married? Can't you just date? I know you think you're in love but…"

"I don't think dad, I know." Rachel interrupts, glancing up at Puck quickly. "I am in love with him and I'm going to spend my life with him and the sooner the two of you accept that, the sooner we can have a relationship again."

"That's it Rachel. I'm done. We have indulged your tantrum long enough. I want you to get your things and be back in this house in an hour." Her daddy says and turns to leave the room as though the conversation is over.

"I'm 18, Daddy. You can't tell me what to do anymore." She's a little surprised at how clam she sounds because calm is the exact opposite of what she's feeling right now.

She wishes she could say or do something to make her Daddy understand that this is a good thing. She doesn't want it to be like this. She doesn't want to have to chose between her dads and Noah. She just wishes that her Daddy could accept Noah the way Mrs. Puckerman accepted her.

"Rachel…" Puck's hand on her back brings her back to reality and she looks up to find him watching her with worried eyes. He's always worried about her it seems.

"David, Rachel, stop it. Both of you!" Her dad steps in, looking between the pair. "What is the matter with you?" He practically hisses at her daddy. "Do you want to drive her out of this house forever?"

"And what's the alternative? Watch her throw her life away in Lima, Ohio, teaching drama at McKinley? Car pooling to soccer? She's meant for more than that, Andrew. You know that just as well as I do!' Her daddy says, causing her dad to sigh heavily and Rachel moves closer to Puck.

"That's not going to happen, Daddy. You should know me well enough to know that when I want something I always get it. And if I want to be a star, I'll be one but I'll do it with Noah by my side…." She trails off for a moment, linking her hands with his and a tiny smile finding her lips as she looked up at her husband.

"But even I did spend my life in Lima, teaching drama at McKinley and car pooling my kids to soccer, would that be such a bad thing? If that's what make me happy? Rachel paused for a moment, closing her eyes she took a deep breath and slowly let it out before her looking back at her daddy. Her childhood flashed through her head and she blinked back tears.

"I'm sorry that you accept this, Daddy, I really and truly am. But I've made up my mind and I'm not going to change it. My life is with Noah now and if you can't accept him, then you can't accept me."

She stared at her Daddy for a long moment, silently praying that he would say something, ease her mind, tell her that he would try to be supportive. Her heart sank slightly when he said nothing and she willed herself not to cry.

Why was he being like this? She just couldn't understand how he could turn his back on her so easily. She's done everything that was expected of her for her entire life. The one time she does something that he doesn't agree with and suddenly she's no longer his daughter?

Shaking her head again, she sent a sad look toward her dad and gripped Puck's hand tightly, pulling him toward to stairs. She felt a wave of sadness when they stepped into her room. This place had been her sanctuary and now it felt as though the room and everything in it belonged to someone else.

"Berry? Hey…" Puck's voice was laced with worry as her reached for her arm but she shook her head, turning away to begin pulling clothes from her bureau and folding them neatly before stacking them on the bed. "Berry, talk to me." His arms slid around her waist, pulling her back against his chest.

Her eyes drifted closed and she allowed herself to get lost in the feeling for a moment. She knows she made the right choice. There's no uncertainty about that. She feels loved and protected in his arms. But most importantly she feels like she's home.

"Rachel, honey, if you want to come home, I'll support you. I won't be hurt if you're worried about that. I told you that I would always be here and I meant that. I will always be here. I don't need a piece of paper to tell me that you're it for me." His voice is soft and gentle in her ear and she's even more certain than she was about her choice.

He loves her enough to let her go. If that's what was going to make her happy, he was willing to do that. The realization warms her and she turns in his arms to look up at him.

"My home is with you." She whispers and she feels her heartbeat quicken when that grin she loves so much spreads across his face.

She moves closer to him, hugging his waist tightly and resting her head against his chest. His arms immediately tighten around her and she smiles again. Maybe one day her daddy will accept her relationship with Noah. She hopes that the case but if not, she has no regrets because she's a Puckerman now and she's starting to think that maybe she was always meant to be one.


	11. Author's Note

Hi Everyone. I just wanted to let you all know that I haven't forgotten or abandoned 'Waking Up In Vegas'. I've been trying to write but I have no inspiration at all. I know where I want the story to go, but I just can't get the words out.

Hopefully inspiration will hit soon. Thanks again for sticking with the story.

Take care!


	12. Chapter 11

**A/N - Hey guys! I'm back! I hope you don't hate me too much! I'm so sorry that it's taken me so long to get this chapter up. You have no idea how hard it was for me to write this. I'm not even sure it's all that good but here it is.**

**Anyway, I hope I still have some readers left and the good news is I think my inspiration is back - hopefully it will say :)**

**Please review. I own nothing. **

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**Puck**

"Are you sure about this, Rach?" Puck asked as he paused outside the choir room door and turned to look down at his tiny wife. "We don't have to tell everyone, you know. I mean, if you're not ready…" Jesus, his heart was pounding in his chest. What the hell was that about? Well, actually he knows what that was about, but he can't even begin to think about that stuff right now, because he's sure that it will drive him absolutely crazy.

"I've moved out of my parents house, Noah. I'm officially living with your family. I'm taking your last name. I think everyone is going to figure it out, whether we tell them or not." She smiled up at him. "Besides, they're our friends; they'll support us I'm sure of it." Puck's mind flicked quickly to Finn, his "best friend". Somehow he didn't think that Finn would be supporting them all that much. "I'm not ashamed to be with you." He frowned when he saw the flicker of doubt flash behind her eyes. "Unless you're…"

"I'm not ashamed to be with you either, Berry. I just don't want to push you." He brushed the hair from her face and felt himself relax when he saw her smile.

"I'm ready." She leaned up to kiss him and he took the opportunity to slide his arms around her waist, trapping her against him as he deepened the kiss. She reluctantly pushed him away after a few moments and he had to resist the urge to laugh when she stared up at him with disapproval. "We really need to work on your self control, Noah. You know, you can't just maul me anytime you feel like it."

"You love it." He growled a little in her ear with a grin and pulled the door to the choir room open. She stared at him for a long moment and for a second he was sure he had crossed a line but instead she shook her head with a laugh before pulling him into the room.

"Hey, you two. We were wondering if you were going to show up today." Mr. Shue greeted them. They turned to find entire Glee group staring at them. Actually, it was a little creepy and starting to freak him out a bit. Did they know? Had someone called his house and his mom or Abby let it slip? Or worse, they called her house and her father probably made it sound like he kidnapped her or something. ?

"Mr. Shue was just telling us that Mr. Figgins has asked us to perform at graduation." Artie said with smile. Puck's eyebrows shot up in surprise. Wow, he couldn't have been more off the mark if he tried. He shook his head a little and glanced at Rachel, who basically looked like she was about explode with excitement and he wasn't sure if it was about them telling everyone their news or the performance. He was thinking it might have been a bit of both.

"Well, I really like…" Kurt began.

"I'm not singing some stupid song about us being friends forever, Hummel, it's not happening so don't even bother." Puck stopped him with a shake of his head.

"Well, I happen to like that song." Kurt huffed, crossing his arms.

"Ugh, yeah, we know. You've been humming it for the last week Beyonce." Puck threw a look in the other boy's direction. "Technically, this is going to be our last official performance, right? So, let's go out with a bang." If he was getting up in front of the entire town to perform it was going to be badass!

"OK, guys, we've got a little bit of time, so why don't we all come up with one that they like and we'll find one that everyone can agree on. Alright?" Mr. Shue looked at everyone expectantly one by one they slowly nodded. "I want everyone's selection tomorrow and we'll start rehearsals soon." Puck shifted and his eye caught Rachel's. She nodded at him with a smile and he couldn't help but smile back. It was time.

"OK, everyone take their positions and lets run through…" Mr. Shue started to continue but stopped when he saw Rachel and Puck still lingering by the door. "Puck, Rachel…"

"Well, Mr. Shuester, Noah and I have something that we would like to tell you all." Rachel's voice quivered for a fraction of a second but Puck was sure he heard it. She stared down at her, the question in his eyes but she shook her head and smile at him.

He still didn't understand how she was sure about him, but he had decided to stop looking a gift horse in the mouth. He was a senior about to graduate. He had a family that supported him, good friends and one hell of a hot wife by his side. All in all, life was OK and if Rachel wanted to announce to the world that she belonged to him and him alone, well he certainly wasn't about to stop her. Hell, he'd give Sue's megaphone to make sure everyone heard.

"Oh my God, you're pregnant!" Quinn suddenly burst out and the entire room gasped.

"She's not pregnant!" Puck threw a dirty look toward the blonde but he could feel Rachel shaking slightly next to him and he turned to find her chuckling.

"Seriously, Noah, why is it that every time you have an announcement people automatically assume that you've impregnated someone?" She shook her head as the laughter subsided. "No Quinn, I have not been granted the privilege of bringing Noah's offspring into this world." She grinned up at him cheekily and he could hear the sarcasm in her voice. Well, at least his girl was starting to loosen up a bit. Not that long ago, a comment like that would have sent Rachel storming from the room in a fit.

"Well, what did you want to tell us?" Tina voice was barely a whisper and Puck glanced at Rachel before looking back at her.

"Well, we wanted you all to be the first to know, after our families of course…" Rachel moved closer to him, sliding her hand into his and holding on tightly. "Noah and I have decided to try and make this relationship work. We've come to realize that there's something we're not quite ready to let go of yet."

"Well, that's great guys." Mr. Shuester smiled with a nod. "I know this isn't exactly the most appropriate thing to say, but who knew a mistake in Vegas would lead to an actual relationship." Puck frowned a little at Mr. Shue's choice of words but decided against saying anything. He knew the glee coach hadn't meant anything by it. Why cause a scene. It would only make Rachel upset and the last thing he wanted was an upset Rachel; especially when she was upset with him.

"Oh, it wasn't a mistake, Mr. Shuester." Rachel beamed that mega watt smile that kind of made her look a little insane and Puck just shook his head. He must be in love to sign up for this for the next 60 years, either that or he was the insane one. "Noah and I aren't getting an annulment or a divorce. We're staying married." Rachel moved closer to him and he automatically wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

"SHUT UP!" Kurt's voice rang echoed in the room. "Oh my god!" Before either of them knew what was happening, he and Rachel were suddenly being swarmed by the rest of the group.

"When did you decide this?" Mercedes stared at the two of them.

"Are you allowed to do that?" Artie looked a bit perplexed.

"Where are you going to live?" Mike's jaw was practically hanging open.

"Are you really not pregnant?" That one came from Quinn again and Puck shot her another look. "What? Don't give me dirty looks Puck! If _Finn_ can get me pregnant then god knows _you _can knock Rachel up!"

"Oh hush up, Quinn!" Kurt shook his head. "Clearly, she's not pregnant. Do you really think Rachel would have been able to keep that a secret? The whole school would have known if she had missed her period!"

"Hey!" Rachel crossed her arms.

"Well, I'm sorry my darling, you know we all love you but you aren't the best at keeping that little big mouth of yours shut. You told Quinn that you two were married like right after it happened." Kurt smiled and moved to Rachel's other side, linking his arm through hers. "But seriously, when did this happen? How? What did your parents say?"

"Alright, everyone quiet! Give Puck and Rachel some room!" Mr. Shue's voice pulled everyone out of the conversation and they all turned to look at him. Shit. Mr. Shue's face had that red tint to it again. Kind of the way it did in Vegas when the had Rachel dropped the whole marriage bomb on everyone. His face wasn't nearly as red as it had been then but still, Puck really didn't want to be responsible for like putting his Spanish teacher in the hospital.

"Ugh, guys, listen, why don't we take a break. I need to talk to Rachel and Puck alone." Puck really didn't like the tone in his voice. He should have known. Mr. Shue was going to tell them that they were making a big mistake - or probably more precisely that _Rachel _was making a mistake. One by one the rest of group started filing out of the choir room and Puck felt like he was back in the hotel in Vegas. All he needed was Finn to make some comment.

"Mr. Shue, I know that you think we're making a mistake but we don't think we are." Puck said slowly when they were alone. "We're graduating high school really soon and I don't really know where my life is going once we do, but I do know that it's wherever Rachel is." Puck shrugged a little. "I don't know how much you know about my family but my dad's a loser. He abandoned us about almost 10 years ago not long after my sister was born. Mr. Shue, you're pretty much the closest thing to a father figure that I've ever had and I hope that you can support us on this…." he trailed off.

"My fathers haven't been very receptive to the idea of Noah and I staying." Rachel picked up where Puck left off.. "They forbid me to see Noah so I moved out. I've been living with Noah's family for the last little while. Noah's mother, bless her heart, I don't think she completely agrees with our decision but she's trying to support us. We're just hoping that you can too. Try to support us. As Noah said, we are graduating soon and who knows we we'll see you again. We realize that you are our teacher and this may not be appropriate but clearly you're more to us than that."

Mr. Shue stared at them in silence for a long time and Puck prepared himself for the lecture he knew was coming.

"You guys are more than students to me too." Mr. Shue shook his head slowly before taking a deep breath. "And you know that I'll try to help you in any way that I can…."

"Really?" Rachel looked like she was about to burst into tears and Puck pulled her closer, kissing the top of her head. "Thank you Mr. Shuester, you have no idea how much this means to us."

"I just have one request." Mr. Shue looked from Puck to Rachel and back again. "Talk to Emma. Just talk to her. I just want to make sure that your heads are in the right place. OK?"

"OK." Rachel nodded, blinking back tears and Puck nodded in agreement as well.

"Alright, go get the others and we'll finish rehearsal." Mr. Shue nodded toward the door and Rachel grinned, immediately bouncing to let the others in. "Hey Mr. Shue…." Puck began when Rachel was out of earshot and the young teacher turned to look at him. "Thanks. I know you probably think we're crazy."

"I don't think you're crazy Puck." Mr. Shue sighed a little. "I think that you're young and you're in love. This isn't going to be easy, Puck but I know Rachel well and when she puts her mind to something, well, let's just say if you were going to do this with anyone, good choice with Rachel Berry."

"That's Rachel Berry-Puckerman now, Mr. Shuester." The two of them turned to find Rachel and the others standing in the door. Puck's eyes locked with Rachel's as she smiled and he couldn't help but smile back at her - there was no getting out of this now, they were really doing this.

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**2****nd**** A/N - No Finn, Emma, etc in this chapter but they will be back soon. Alright, click the button and leave me a review! **


	13. Chapter 12

**A/N - So I think my muse is back! YAH!!! Thank you for all of the reviews. It's a relief to know that people are still enjoying the story and all of your kind words have definitely inspired me to write more. Here's the next chapter. I hope you guys like it. I own nothing. Please review.**

**Rachel**

"I still can't believe that you and Puck are staying married." Quinn leaned against the locker and gently rubbed her stomach as Rachel searched through her locker for her chemistry book. "You never told me, what did Mr. Shue say to you guys?"

"He basically said that he would help us in any way that he could." Rachel finally saw the book she was looking for and pulled it from the locker, placing it neatly in her bag before shutting her locker and turning to face Quinn. "And he said that we needed to talk to Ms. Pillsbury; he wanted us to be sure our 'heads are in the right place'." she shrugged at little as the two of them started down the hall toward the cafeteria. "We're supposed to meet with her this afternoon. Noah thinks it's a waste of time, obviously but who knows maybe Ms. Pillsbury will have some words of wisdom."

"Yeah, I wouldn't count on it." Quinn gives her a look. "Finn and I asked her for advice on how to be cool once and she told us to wear sunglasses." Quinn made a face and Rachel can't help but chuckle at the blonde next to her. "That being said, she was pretty cool after everyone found out I was pregnant. You know, she offered to talk to me and listen. I didn't take her up on it, but sometimes I wish I had. I think she genuinely wants to help, you know."

"I do know what you mean." Rachel nodded in agreement. She had come to realize that most of the teachers in the school really didn't care too much about the students. They just wanted to make it through the day, or lived to terrorize them like Ms. Sylvester - she shivered at the mere thought of McKinley's cheerleading coach - but Mr. Shue and Ms. Pillsbury weren't like that. They genuinely cared about the well being of the students, and in particular the Glee kids.

Rachel pulled the door to the cafeteria open and held it for Quinn. The two girls stopped and glanced around looking for the other Gleeks. Rachel couldn't stop from smiling when her eyes landed on Noah talking with Artie about something at the table. Her smile quickly vanished when Finn approached the table and tapped Noah on the shoulder.

"How are things with you and Finn?" Rachel pulled her gaze away from her mo-hawked husband and his former best friend.

"I don't know really." Quinn shrugged a little as they made their way to the food line. "I mean, I obviously care about Finn, he's the father of my child but they way he reacted to you and Puck…"

"Quinn, you have no idea how absolutely awful I feel about that. The fact that my relationship with Noah would cause…" She began rambling but Quinn stopped her.

"It's not your fault." Quinn shook her head. "Finn made these decisions all on his own. I don't blame you." The two of them were quiet for a moment. "It's funny how things have changed, huh? Not that long ago, you would have been the first person I blamed for any problems that Finn and I had." She paused for a second. "I'm glad that's it not like that anymore Rachel." Quinn smiled and turned to place her order, leaving Rachel staring at the back of her head. Quinn was definitely right. Things between the two girls had changed drastically and Rachel was grateful for that. She was grateful that she had Quinn to talk to. She could only hope that Quinn knew that it went both ways.

She bit her lip and glanced back at Noah and Finn, who were still talking. Well, they weren't really talking per se. Clearly they were arguing but she was grateful that no punches had been thrown. She needed to rectify this situation with Quinn and Finn. Quinn had clearly known that she and Noah belonged together before either of them did and had worked to make sure that happened. She had worked to make sure that her friend was happy and now Rachel was going to do the same thing. She was going to end this whole Finn situation once and for all.

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**Puck**

"Hey Puck." Artie looked up as Puck dropped into the chair next to him at lunch.

"What's up Artie." He slapped the smaller boy on the shoulder and immediately dug into his lunch. He was freaking starving. He glanced at the others at the table, Tina, Matt, and Britney to find them all staring at him. "What?" He felt a bit of food fly out of his mouth and for a second was thankful that Rachel hadn't gotten there yet because he was sure she would have flipped out about his lack of manners.

"Well, we, um… we just wanted to say that we're happy for you and Rachel." Artie said finally and Puck just about dropped his fork. He totally hadn't been expecting that. "We've known the both of you for a long time now and well… if you guys are happy, we're happy for you."

"Thanks man. That means a lot." Puck slapped Artie on the shoulder again and was about to turn back to his lunch when he felt on tap on _his_ shoulder. Turning, he sighed heavily when he saw Finn standing over him. He had to crane his neck to look up at him. Damn, that kid really was freakishly tall. "What do you want Finn? I just want to eat my lunch in peace, alright? I'm really not in the mood to into another fight with you."

"Did you get her pregnant? Is that what this is about? Are you trying to do the right thing because your dad left?" Finn asked and Puck had to resist the urge to punch him. He could see Rachel out of the corner of his eye and he really didn't want to start anything but Finn should know better then to start bringing up that shit.

"God damn it!" Puck angrily pushed his chair from the table and stood to face the tall quarterback. "How many times am I going to have to tell you to mind your own fucking business. I'm sick of it, Rachel's sick of it and, more importantly, your pregnant girlfriend is sick of it! That is if Quinn's still your girlfriend, because my guess is pregnant or not she's tired of your sorry ass moping around over something that was never yours to begin with." His eyes flashed angrily as he stared at Finn, who continued to stare at him with that stupid look on his face.

"Don't talk to me about Quinn or the baby." Finn huffed and Puck couldn't help but roll his eyes.

"Someone has to because clearly you're not thinking about either one of them." Puck shook his head. The rest of the Gleeks at the table were staring in fascination. "But no, Finn, Rachel's not pregnant. Not that it's any of your fucking business! We're doing this because we want to."

"I…." Finn stared at him in silence as Quinn and Rachel appeared.

"Hello everyone." She smiled at the others and set her tray on the table before turning to Puck. "Hi." Smiling she leaned up to kiss his mouth softly.

"Here Quinn, let me help you." Puck glanced over to see Artie roll over to take Quinn's tray for her and lay it down on the table before leaning over to pull out a chair other for her.

"Thanks Artie." Puck watched as Quinn shot him a shy smile as she sat down and focused on the food in front of her and he couldn't help but feel bad for her. Rachel let out a sigh and he turned to see his tiny wife staring at the former cheerleader with a frustrated look on her face.

"Could you all excuse us for just one quick moment. I need to have a word with Finn." Puck's face dropped in shock as the words left her mouth. "Noah, could you come too, please." She glanced up at him quickly before spinning on her heel and marching determinedly toward the door.

He glanced at the rest of the Gleeks and then Finn before shrugging and setting off after Rachel with Finn close behind him. He had absolutely no idea what this was about but he did know that Rachel had that crazed 'Berry-on-a-mission' look. He's not going to lie, wife or not, she freaked the crap out of him when she had that look on her face.

"Rach, babe, what's going on?" He asked when they reached the choir room and Rachel turned to look at the them, arms crossed firmly over her chest.

"That's it!" Her eyes flashed angrily and Puck cringed a little. He should probably settle himself in for one hell of a Rachel Berry-Pukerman rant. Although, he's not entirely sure why he's here. He didn't think that he did anything particularly offensive today. At least nothing out of the ordinary. He'd made some slightly inappropriate remarks to her this morning when he dropped her off at homeroom, but that wasn't anything unusual and she had just blushed a little and laughed.

"Noah, could you pay attention, please?" Her voice brought him back to reality and he looked up to find her watching him. "As I was saying, Finn, that's it. I am tired of this stupid little game you're playing. I understand that at one point in time you and I shared… something. Although, I'm not entirely sure how to properly define it. A crush? An infatuation? Whatever it was, it's gone now. It was gone the first time Noah kissed me. Actually, in retrospect, I think it was gone the moment I found out that Quinn was pregnant. You need to stop this jealousy or whatever it is. You are supposed to be Noah's friend. You are supposed to be his _best_ friend and you turned your back on him because you were jealous over something that you had no right to be jealous over. He would never admit it but you're hurting him."

Puck bristled a little at the words. Finn hadn't hurt him. It had pissed him off that Finn had automatically thought the worst of him and that he was constantly all up in their business, true. But he wasn't _hurt_. Badasses didn't get their feelings hurt!

"And you're not just hurting your friend and _my _husband, now you're also hurting my friend." Rachel's voice brought him back to the conversation. "Quinn is carrying your child. Your _child_, Finn! She is responsible for bringing another human life into this world and she does not need the added stress of having the father of that child acting like a Neanderthal over another girl!"

"Rachel, this isn't about Quinn or the baby…" Finn began and Puck knew the moment the words were out of his mouth that the other boy had fucked up. He knew that look on Rachel's face. He'd caused that look on her face more than once.

"That's the problem! Everything you do right now should be about Quinn and the baby, man!" The words were out of Puck's mouth before he even realized he was thinking them. Where the hell had that come from?

"Exactly, Noah, thank you." Rachel smiled over at him, which caused Finn to scowl and Puck rolled his eyes at him, his patience finally snapping.

"Get the fuck over it!" The frustration was evident in Puck's voice. "She's my wife, Hudson! _My wife! _That's not changing anytime soon so you better get fucking used to it! Stop spending all your time staring at my girl and start paying attention to yours." He paused for a second, trying to keep his disgust in check. "Actually, you know what, forget I said that. Don't pay any attention to Quinn at all!"

"Noah!" Rachel gasped but he shook his head in her direction.

"Why don't you just keep doing what you're doing and then maybe she'll find someone who actually deserves her. Because Quinn's a pretty decent person, she's been a good friend to Rachel and she deserves better than you!"

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**Rachel**

The room was eerily silent for a long time as the three of them stared at each other.

"While I think that Noah could have phrased that much more tactfully, I have to say that I agree." Her voice is so quiet that for a second she wonders if Finn even heard her, but the look on his face tells her that he did. "You're concern shouldn't be about me. It should be about Quinn and your daughter."

"Rach…" Finn began but Rachel shook her head.

"You say that you're trying to protect me, but that reasoning is so very flawed, Finn. In your attempts to 'protect' me, you're hurting people that I care about, which, in turn, hurts me." Rachel sighed and shook her head as she looked at Finn in disappointment. "You know, there was a time when I thought you were my knight in shining armour, but I was wrong. I was very wrong, because it turns out that it was Noah the whole time and I just didn't know it." She glances at him quickly before looking back at Finn. "He's my other half and unfortunately it seems rather clear that Quinn is not yours, in which case you need to talk to her about that because she's 17 years old and pregnant. She's confused and scared, whether she'll admit it or not. But she deserves to be happy and if you care about her, and I know that you do, you will let her be happy but you will still be there for your child."

The room is silent again. She wonders for a brief second if she overstepped her boundaries and said to much. It certainly wouldn't have been the first time she spoke without thinking but then she remembers the look on Quinn's face and knows that she did the right thing. It's her duty, as Quinn's friend, to protect her. She looks over at Noah, who's watching her intensely. It doesn't matter where they are or how many people are there, when he looks at her like that she feels like the only girl in the room. Quinn deserves to have someone look at her like that.

"Unless you have anything else to say Noah I'd like to get back to my lunch." She looks at him expectantly and smiles a little when he holds his hand out to her. She doesn't look at Finn again as she takes Noah's hand and allows him to lead her from the room. His arm automatically goes around her shoulder and she doesn't resist when he pulls her flush against his side.

"I gotta admit Berry, that was kind of hot." His warm breath tickles her skin as he whispers in her ear and she shivers, causing a smirk to play across his lips and she can tell that he's pretty pleased with himself about her reaction.

"You found the act of me verbally berating our fellow glee club member to be an aphrodisiac?" She looks up at him sceptically, but her breath quickens when he stops and gently pushes her against the lockers.

"In case you haven't figured it out yet, Berry, you're pretty protective of the people you care about…." His mouth gently trails along her neck as his whispers against her skin and Rachel shudders this time. "And I happen to find that sexy as hell."

She physically has to bite her lip from moaning when his fingers gently graze down her side and his large hands rest on her hips, pulling her closer. She also has to keep reminding herself that they are in the middle of the hall at school and that it definitely not appropriate for her to beg him to take her right here against the lockers, although she is fairly certain that he probably wouldn't be opposed to that suggestion, or if he was it most likely wouldn't take much convincing to change his mind.

Her hands seem to move of their own free will and slowly slide up his chest. My god, she loves his chest. It's firm and solid and exactly the way a man's chest should be. She can feel his nipple ring through his t-shirt and before she can stop herself she gently strokes it through his shirt.

"Damn it Berry." He practically growls in her ear and she shivers again. She can't believe that she's actually doing this in the middle of the hallway at school where absolutely anyone could turn the corner and see them. In fact, she's rather sure that Noah's hand, which is slowly but steadily making its way to her backside, is doing to be under her skirt in a matter of seconds.

"Noah…" She reluctantly pulls away from him and he stares down at her in what she can only describe is a lust filled haze. He's looking at her but his eyes don't seem to be focused.

"Shh…." His mouth is suddenly covering hers and for a second she forgets her own name.

"Noah, stop. We can't do this here." She pushes away again and he stares down at her in disbelief.

"You started this Berry." He shakes his head and places his hands on either side of her head against the locker, resting his forehead against hers. Her mouth drops into a shocked 'O' form and she's just about to give him lecture on just who exactly pushed who against a locker in this scenario when he brushes his lips across hers, barely touching and she forgets her train of thought. "You need to not be so god damn sexy all the time."

He presses against her one more time and she feels fire coarse through her whole body before he finally pushes away from her and straightens himself up. She, on the other hand, is still firmly pressed with her back against the locker, staring at him.

"I'll try and keep that in mind for next time." She takes a breath and begins to straighten her clothes when Noah reaches over to brush a stray piece of hair from her face and she can't help but smile again as she looks up at him.

No other person has ever made her feel the way he does. She had meant what she said to Finn. He's her other half. He completes her - although she could never use that phrase with him because she knows that she would never hear the end of how he's not some wimp like Tom Cruise and that he could totally kick Tom Cruise's ass and has she seen his guns? They're so much bigger than Tom Cruise's.

But she digresses. Something she thinks she may have picked up from Noah because she finds herself losing her train of thought quite a bit lately, although she is fairly certain that has less to do with her thinking process and more do to with the fact that most of the time it happens when Noah's trying to undress her and when he does this thing with his mouth when he's kissing her… well, let's just say it's pretty impressive.

"You've got dirty in your eyes" She's pulled from her thoughts to find Noah grinning at her lecherously. He throws his arm over her shoulder again as they start down the hall again. "You know, we could always find somewhere to go during free period." He whispers in her ear just as the reach the cafeteria.

"We can't. We have to meet Ms. Pillsbury during free period, remember?" She looked up and almost laughed at the disgusted look on his face. "We promised Mr. Shue, remember? We owe him at least this, Noah."

"I know, I know." Puck mumbled under his breath and she couldn't help but laugh as she pulled him toward the Gleek table. She shook her head as Puck slumped into his chair and began stabbing at his food with his fork.

"I'll make it up to you when we get home, I promise." She slid into the chair next to him and rested her hand lightly on his jean clad thigh. He lifted his gaze to hers and held it for a second before smirking.

* * *

**Puck**

Man, he can think of about 15 different things he'd rather be doing right now. At least half of them involve a fully or partially naked Rachel but not one of them involves sitting in Ms. Pillsbury's office talking about his freaking feelings.

He's here because Mr. Shue asked them be here. That's the one and only reason - well that and the fact that Rachel would have his ass in a sling if he didn't show up. But the fact is he knows how he feels about Rachel, he doesn't need some guidance counsellor to tell him that. But more importantly, Rachel knows how he feels. But still, Mr. Shue asked them and well, he's fucking Mr. Shue. He can count on one hand the number of people who actually give a shit about his future and shit and Mr. Shue's one of them. So if Mr. Shue wants him to sit in Ms. Pillsbury's office during free period, then he'll sit in Ms. Pillsbury's office during free period.

See now he's getting all fucking girly. Instinctively he blames Hummel. He's been spending way too much time with Beyonce and it's starting to rub off on him. _Don't blame this on me, Puckerman! _Kurt's voice echoes in his head, and Puck isn't sure which is worse, that he's still hearing Kurt's voice in his head or the fact that lately he's been having full on freaking conversations with the voice in his head.

This he completely blames on Berry. He loves her, no doubt of that, but there are definitely times when he's sure that she's bat shit crazy and talking to the inner voice in his head is something that he knows he picked up from her because there are times when he thinks that she's got the whole cast of Rent in there with her.

"So…" Ms. Pillsbury begins in the mousy voice of hers. "Will…excuse me..." She breaks off for a second as she glances up at Mr. Shue who is leaning against her office wall, arms crossed, and he can't help but smirk. She's so got it bad for Mr. Shue. But then again Mr. Shue's got it pretty bad for her too. It kind of works out that way. "Mr. Shuester asked me to speak with you two about the recent development in your relationship." There's complete silence in the room and Puck steals a glance at Rachel who is sitting patiently next to him, ankles cross, hands folded neatly in her lap.

"Well, I took the liberty of pulling some literature for the two of you." She hands them both a pamphlet and Puck's eyes almost bug out of his head when he reads the title. **So, You've Decided To Get Married In High School**. Is she fucking kidding? There's actually a fucking pamphlet for this? He can't stop the laughter from sputtering from his lips and Rachel gives him a reproachful look as Mr. Shue frowns.

"Hmmm… sorry…. Something in my throat." He clears his throat and glances at Rachel before turning back to Ms. Pillsbury.

"This isn't a laughing matter, Noah." Ms. Pillsbury looked serious and Puck frowns. He knows that it's not a laughing matter but, come on, she's got a freaking pamphlet! How can he not laugh?

"I get that this is serious." He says after a moment, glancing at Rachel. "We both get that this is serious and it's not like we made this decision lightly. You both know Rachel, she makes a pro and con list before switching toothpaste…."

"I do not!" Rachel's hand reached to slap him on the arm and he couldn't stop from smiling at the glare on her face. She was pretty cute when she was pretending to be angry. "However, the essence of what Noah is saying is true. I never make a decision without carefully considering all the options."

"But what about school? College? You both have such bright futures" Ms. Pillsbury looked at them carefully. "Do you…"

"We're going to cross that bridge when we come to it. We know it's not going to be easy…" He trailed off as Rachel reached for his hand, holding it tightly in hers.

"But wherever our paths lead us in the future, Noah and I are sure that we are meant to take that journey together."

"Hmm..." Ms. Pillsburry is quiet for a moment as she reaches for her hand sanitizer and squirts some on her hands, rubbing them together furiously. "Well, do you have a support system in place? Have you told your parents? How did they react to that?" A look passes across her face and Puck knows that she's think about Mr. Berry's reaction to the news of the marriage to begin with.

"Noah's mother has been wonderful." Rachel suddenly speaks up and Puck watches her in awe as she gushes about how amazing his mom is. He knows he's mom is pretty fucking awesome but it's nice to know that the Rachel sees it too. Of course, he's pretty positive it goes both ways because his mom basically thinks that Rachel is the second coming - teenage marriage or not.

"My daddy has been less understanding." He focuses back in on Rachel's voice and frowns when he sees her drop her head to stare at her lap. "But I'm confident that someday he will come to see that I need to live my own life."

"I see..." Ms. Pillsbury pauses for a moment as she stares them intensely and for a second Puck starts to feel a little uncomfortable. "Here's what I think. I'd like to think that I've come to know the both of you fairly well over the last few years. It's fairly obvious to anyone that looks at the two of you that you are clearly head over heals for each other. That being said, this road that you've chosen to take is going to be difficult and I'm not sure if either of you realize just how difficult it will be but it is my sincerest hope that you two will beat the odds. The fact that we're even sitting here at all says that you've already beaten some of them. A romance between the two of you had a target on its back before it ever came into being and yet somehow you've managed to not only stay together but thrive."

"Alright, guys, I guess that's good." Mr. Shue finally spoke for the first time that hour and both Puck and Rachel looked up at him. "Free periods almost over. Why don't you got get your books for next class. I think we've said everything that we need to say."

"We'll see you at rehearsal Mr. Shue." Rachel stood, smoothing her skirt and turned to look down at Puck He pulled myself to my feet and gave Shue and Ms. Pillsbury a quick nod before following Rachel out into the hall. Jesus, he hoped that was the last time he was going to have to defend their relationship. Yeah, he knows that's a pipe dream, but hey a guy can dream right?


	14. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer - I don't own Glee, if I did there would be alot more Puckelberry!**

**Rachel **

They're 20 minutes late to Glee that afternoon because Noah dragged her into a storage room on the way for some 'husband and wife' time, as he put it. Although to be fair, she hadn't exactly put up much of a fight. His arms are wrapped firmly around her waist when they stumble into the choir room.

"Glad you two could make it." Mr. Shue eyes their dishevelled state and Rachel feels her face burn but Noah simply tightens his arms around her waist.

"Sorry Mr. Shue, we got a little sidetracked and lost track of time." She can see Noah smirking out of the corner of her eye and her cheeks burn again.

"I apologize for our tardiness Mr. Shuester." She pushes out of Noah's arms and grabs his hand, pulling him to two empty chairs by Tina.

"Do you two ever take a rest?" Kurt leans forward to whisper in her ear and she turns her head to look at him slightly. "I mean, seriously doll…" He throws a glance in Noah's direction. "…I'm surprised you're able to walk." Her mouth drops in shock and she sees Noah smirking again.

"Stop encouraging him!" She slaps his arm but he just keeps on smirking in that annoyingly sexy way she that loves and hates all at the same time.

"Guys, can we focus please?" Mr. Shuester's voice snaps Rachel to attention and she throws a dirty look in Kurt and Noah's direction before focusing on Mr. Shuester. "Alright, let's hear some ideas for the songs we can do at graduation."

"Well, Quinn and I were talking and she suggested 'Unwritten' by Natasha Bedingfield." Artie says and Quinn ducks her head, blushing slightly.

"That's a great choice, Quinn." Mr. Shuester beams at the blonde and scribbles it down on the paper he has. "What else?" He looks at the rest of them expectantly.

"I like Bon Jovi. Their duet with Jennifer Nettles is awesome. 'Who Says You Can't Go Home'. We could probably work that into something good." Matt pipes up and Mr. Shue nods, writing that down as well.

"How about 'This Is What Dreams Are Made Of' by Hilary Duff?" Britney pipes up from the back.

"I'm not singing Hilary Duff!" Noah was suddenly on his feet, spinning around to look at Britney. "Sorry, Brit, I love ya but that's not happening. I wouldn't let Beyonce have his stupid friends forever song, you're not having Hilary Duff."

"Noah, what are you talking about?" Rachel looked at him puzzled. "You and I agreed that 'Seasons of Love' from RENT would be a fitting song. Why would that song be better than Britney's choice?" She asked innocently and instantly knew she had said something wrong when Noah looked like he was about to fall over.

"Babe, there was no 'we' in that conversation! That was all you. _You_ said that would be a fitting song." He crossed his arms over his chest and Rachel jumped to feet, glaring at him.

"Stop lying Noah Puckerman!" She stamped her foot in annoyance. "You said that you agreed with me; that it was a great song choice. Are you saying that you were lying to me?" She eyed him furiously and her anger only rose when he rolled his eyes and muttered something under his breath that sounded very similar to 'crazy'.

"You really want to do this here, Berry?" He asked and motioned to the others, who looked intrigued and slightly uncomfortable all at the same time. "You really want to talk about that conversation _here_?"

He smirks again and Rachel feels her blood boil.

"Yes! Because you agreed with me and now you're saying you don't and if that's the case, than I want to know why you lied to me? I don't want you to agree with me just to appease me, Noah! This is supposed to be a partnership! We're supposed to work through things together and if something as simple as a song selection forces you to lie to me…"

"Rachel, you brought that song up when we were making out! Your legs were wrapped around my waist and you were biting my ear. I would have agreed to just about anything at that moment!"

* * *

**Puck**

The room is completely silent for a second before Santana lets out a snicker and soon the rest of the group is laughing. He wants to laugh but the look on Rachel's face says that that probably wouldn't be the best idea at the moment.

OK, he'll admit that blurting that out in the middle of Glee probably wasn't the smartest thing to do but, come on, what was he supposed to do?

"You are unbelievable Noah Puckerman!" Rachel glares at him in anger before stalking toward the door. Ah, shit!

"Damn it…" Puck mutters under his breath before taking off after her. He steps out into the hall and looks to see her marching toward the exit and rolls his eyes before breaking into a jog to catch her (thank god she didn't see the eye roll because that would be a whole other argument). "Berry! Wait."

She falters for a second at the sound of his voice and he thinks that she's going to stop but instead she picks up the pace and he swears again under his breath. He's practically running down the hall now. You couldn't tell by looking at her but Rachel was pretty fast.

"Rachel! Stop!!" He grabs her arm when he finally catches her and she spins around, eyes blazing.

"How could you do that?!" She slaps his chest (hard) and he stares at her in confusion. How the hell did they go from making out in the storage room to this?

"Rachel, I didn't mean to. It just slipped out." He steps toward her and she instantly takes a step back.

"You used our relationship as the punch line of a joke, Noah." She looks away and he can see her blinking away tears and suddenly he feels like the biggest piece of shit on the planet.

"Is that what you thought I was doing?" He slides his arms loosely around her waist and does a silent cheer when she doesn't pull away. "I'm an asshole. I talk without thinking. I don't mind the world knowing that we have one hell of an amazing sex life. I'll tell anyone who'll listen. I forget sometimes that you don't think like me."

She slowly looks up at him, biting her lip in that sexy way that makes him want to do ungodly things to her.

"I'm sorry, Noah, I shouldn't have reacted like that. I just…" She trailed off.

"Like I said, I'm an asshole. I'm sorry." He brushes the hair from her face. "I'll be better, I promise."

"No, you won't." She finally smiles and he feels his stomach do a flip flop. Man, this chick has completely ruined him, but in the best possible way.

"Yeah, you're probably right." He pulls her closer. "But that's part of the reason you love me, right?"

"Something like that." She murmurs against his mouth before pressing her lips against his and he groans, tightening his arms around her, crushing her against him.

"Well, it looks like you two made up." They pull apart to see Santana standing a little ways down the hall. "Mr. Shuester sent me to see if you guys were OK. Whenever you're done groping each other, the rest of us are waiting."

The Latina eyes them before turning and heading back toward the choir room, her cheerleading skirt swinging. Puck frowns as he watches her disappear around the corner. He's known Santana for awhile. He's seen that look in her eye before and he doesn't trust it, or her, one bit.

"We should probably get back." Rachel's voice brings him back. He looks to see her staring up at him and all thoughts of Santana are gone. "I am sorry Noah."

"Me too, babe." He kisses her one more time before wrapping his arm around her shoulder and leading her back to practice.

* * *

**Rachel**

She tenses when she sees her daddy's car in the driveway of the Puckerman home when she and Puck get home from practice.

"Maybe he came to apologize?" Puck offers and she smiles sweetly at him. She prays that he's right, but she can't let herself get her hopes up. She doesn't think she could handle another disappointment from her daddy. "You wanna get out of here until he's gone?"

Rachel stares at him and for a second she's tempted to tell him to keep driving but she can't do that and the look on his face tells her that he knows she can't do that but she loves him for at least offering.

"No." She shakes her head and takes a breath as he puts the truck in park. "What do I say to him, Noah?"

She stares at him with wide eyes and her heart's pounding in her chest. The last thing she wants to do is have another fight with her daddy, especially in front of Abby and Sarah.

"I can't tell you that, babe." He climbs out of the truck and jogs around to open her door. "But he came to see you, right? That's a good sign. Why don't you let him take the lead."

"OK." She nods and slips her hand into Puck's and he squeezes it in a reassuring way that makes her smile. The two of them make their way into the house.

Her stomach is in knots by the time they get inside the house. She's never not be able to talk to her Daddy before and she hates that their relationship has come to this. She doesn't regret her choices but she'd be lying if she said she didn't miss her fathers.

"Hello Rachel." Her father stands to greet them when they step into the living room.

"Hi Daddy." She's a little shocked that she can even put words together and she finds herself clinging even tighter to Noah's hand.

"Noah." Her father turns to Puck and gives him a small nod.

"What are you doing here, Daddy?" Rachel tried to keep the hope out of her voice but knows she failed miserably. She can't help it. He's her daddy and as much as she loves Noah, she misses him.

"This came in the mail for you today." He holds out a small white envelope. "It's from Julliard so I thought that you would want it right away."

A small gasp escapes her lips as she drops Noah's hand and rushes forward to take the envelope. Her hands are shaking as she stares at it and she slowly turns to look at Noah.

"I can't. I can't open it." She suddenly feels like she's going to be sick. This tiny envelope contained her whole future. Everything she had worked for her entire life had been about making it into Julliard. "Noah, what if it's a rejection?"

"Hey, hey, hey!" His arms are around her in less than a second and she immediately relaxes in his embrace. "There's no way that's a rejection. You are way too talented for that be a rejection."

"Can you?" She holds the envelope out to him, her eyes pleading silently. "I just… I can't. You have to. Please. Noah, please…."

"OK, OK." He presses a kiss on her forehead as he takes the envelope and rips in open in one quick motion. Her heart feels like it's going to burst out of her chest it's pounding so hard as he pulls the single piece of paper out and opens it. His eyes scan the paper quickly and she's sure that it's bad news.

"It's a rejection, isn't it?" Tears sting her eyes and she drops her head, trying to compose herself. "I can't believe this. All my hard work… it was all for nothing."

"It's not a rejection." Her head shoots up at the sound of Noah's voice and she finds him grinning proudly at her. "Babe, you got a full ride!"

She stares at him, waiting for the punch line. He's messing with her. She's sure of it. Instead he shoves the paper into her hands and she stares down at the words.

**Dear Ms. Berry:**

**We are pleased to offer you early admission….**

She can't breathe again. Her eyes move further down the page.

**Due to your tremendous talent, you have been selected for the President's Scholarship, which will cover all tuition…**

She stops reading again and looks up at Noah again, who's still beaming ear to ear.

"Oh my God! Noah, I got in!" She throws her arms around him, laughing and crying all at the same time as he spins her around.

"I'm so proud of you." He murmurs into her hair before setting her on her feet and pulling away to kiss her softly. "I never had a doubt."

"Congratulations Rachel." Sarah Puckerman slowly steps toward the young couple. "I'm proud of you." Rachel feels tears fill her eyes again as Sarah wraps her in a tight embrace.

"Thank you." She smiles at her mother-in-law and hesitates for just a second before turning to look at her father.

"Congratulations baby. It's everything you've ever wanted." Her father smiles a little.

The room is silent for a moment as father and daughter stare at each other.

"Your father will be sorry he missed this. He got called to the hospital for an emergency. He's going to be so happy when he finds out though." Her daddy's words hit her hard.

Her dad wasn't here. She had always dreamed that when she found out she was going to Julliard that she would be with both of her fathers so that they could celebrate with her. All of their support and sacrifices over the years had made this possible. Of course, when she needed her daddy's support most was when he decided to turn his back on her.

"I don't know if I have the right to say this anymore, but I'm really proud of you too, baby girl." There are tears in his eyes and Rachel thinks that this may have been the first time she's ever seen her daddy cry.

"Daddy…" Her voice cracks and she swallows a sob. "I really miss you…"

"I miss you too." Her daddy gives her a slightly watery smile and she feels like a little girl again. Suddenly she's rushing towards him, throwing her arms around him and holding on as tight as she can. The tears she's been holding back burst and she sobs like a little girl into his chest. "Shh… sweetheart, it's OK. Shh…"

He rubs her back gently and she can't help but remember that he used to do the same thing when she was sick as a child. She clings to him for another few moments before pulling away to look up at him.

"Daddy…" She pauses for a second, before glancing at Noah who's watching the scene with an expression that she can't quite interpret.

"Sarah…" Her daddy turns to Mrs. Puckerman. "Would you mind terribly if I had a moment with the kids?"

"No of course not." Sarah Puckerman shakes her head and gives Rachel a quick hug, congratulating her again before excusing herself.

"Mr. Berry…" Noah begins when the three of them are alone but her daddy just shakes his head, silencing him.

"Let me say this first, Noah…" He pauses to take a breath and Rachel bites her lip nervously. "I handled everything about this situation badly." He looks at Puck. "I was quick to judge you and I apologize for that."

Rachel is silent as she stares at her daddy. She glances up at Noah to see him wearing a similar expression of confusion as hers.

"Did you know that I met your father in college? He was the most beautiful man I'd ever seen. I had known for a while that I was gay but I was still denying who I really was up until then. I was in love with your father from the moment I saw him. He was the one who finally helped me be honest with myself. He was always so sure of himself. You get that from him. You've always been focused on your future and you've always known who you are as person." He pauses for a second. "And when you told us that you us that you weren't getting the annulment, I just saw all of your dreams go up in smoke. Everything that you had wanted, everything that you had worked for…. I thought you were compromising yourself for a boy who didn't deserve you to begin with…"

Rachel frowns a little and glances at Puck, who looks slightly uncomfortable with this whole conversation. There's silence again as her daddy turns away from her and looks at Puck.

"The truth is I still don't think that you're good enough for my daughter." Rachel frowns at her father's words and is about to say something when he keeps talking. "But that has less to do with you and more to do with the fact that I don't think anyone is good enough for her."

"Well, you're not wrong Mr. Berry." Puck shakes his head before looking down at her and for a second Rachel thinks that she's sees sadness in his eyes but he blinks and it's gone. "I don't deserve her, but I'm trying to become the kind of person who does."

"You aren't the same boy that used to throw slushies on my daughter. I knew that the day you showed up on our doorstep to let us know that she was alright." Rachel's jaw drops as her daddy speaks and she looks up at her husband. "You knew her well enough then to know that she would never come on her own but you were considerate enough of Andrew and I to know that we would be worried about her."

"You went to my parents' house?" She asks, confusion evident in her voice. When did this happen? How had she not known about it?

"You should be thanking him." Her daddy interrupts her. "He completely won your father over with that." He pauses again and sighs. "I know that this may not make any sense to either of you, but I was trying to protect you, Rachel. Simply by being my daughter, you already carry a stigma in this town…"

"Daddy, you know I don't care about that." She shook her head vehemently.

"You say that sweetheart, but I know that it hurts you to hear your father and I called names." He reaches out to touch her cheek gently. "That's the person you are, Rachel. You're the person that cares too much and I just didn't want you getting hurt again and I thought he was going to hurt you. I just thought that if I forbade you to see him then I could protect you from it. I didn't want you to have to go through any of that. I handled that situation badly, I know that."

Her daddy sighs heavily and runs his fingers through his hair as Rachel stares at him in silence.

"Your father and I have had more than a few arguments over this. You may get your self-awareness from him, but you definitely get your stubbornness from me." He cracks a smile and Rachel can't help but smile as well. "But, in the end, he was right. This is your life to live and your mistakes to make…"

"Daddy, this isn't a mistake." Rachel jumped in immediately. "Noah's not that person anymore. He's not going to hurt me."

"Mr. Berry, I've said this before but I'll say it again. I know that I haven't always treated your daughter the way she should be treated but I'm trying to make up for that." Puck's mouth twitched a little and Rachel watched as the two men stared at each other for a moment.

"I believe that you meant that." Her daddy was silent for a second before he looked at her. "I won't say that I agree with this, Rachel, because I don't but this is your life and I want to be apart of it, even if I don't agree with what you're doing."

* * *

**So I really hope that you liked this chapter. I have all these ideas for the story and I'm so eager to get them on the page but work has been kicking my ass lately... hopefully I'll get some time to write this weekend. Anyway, please please, please review! **


	15. Chapter 14

******A/N - OK, so that very brief Puckleberry scene in Bad Reputation was enough to completely kick start my inspriation again. Seriously, Mark & Lea's chemistry was off the charts! I hope we get more, because there is so unfinished business there (you could cut the tension with a knife! Sigh, such a great scene!). I hope Murphy & Co. realize that. Plus, Mark seriously needs to sing more becuase that voice makes me... well, I won't get into that here. LOL.**

**As always, I own nothing. I hope you enjoy. Please review. :)**

**Puck**

Puck's about to leave Lit class a few days later when he hears snickering behind him and scowls when he sees that stupid fucking Karofsky smirking at him.

"You got a problem, asshole?" Puck stands over the hockey player's desk and glares.

"Never knew you were the marrying kind, Puckerman." The other boy smirks and two of his stupid hockey buddies start to snicker again.

"Where the fuck did you hear that?" Puck's jaw tightens and he leans down to get in Karofsky's face. He and Rachel hadn't told anyone besides the Glee kids.

"Please, it's all over school. Everyone knows. Damn Puckerman, she must be one hell of lay to get to you to marry her or is that it? You knocked her up and had to marry her. I mean, come on, I know you don't have the clout that you once did since joined Homo Explosion, but I never thought you'd sink that low…."

Before he came even finish the sentence, Puck's grabbing his shirt and pulling him to his feet.

"Say one more fucking word about her and it'll be the last thing you ever say. Got it!" Puck threw him back into his chair and spun on his heel charging out of the room. He knows exactly who's behind this and when he finds that little bitch Santana, she's going to regret the day she ever decided to mess with him and Rachel.

"Lopez!" He spots Santana at her locker talking to Britney and she glances at him with disinterest before continuing her conversation. "Who the hell do you think you are?"

Puck slams his fist into the locker and Britney jumped a little before muttering goodbye to Santana and hurrying away.

"What are you talking about, Puck?" Santana rolled her eyes.

"I'm talking about you shooting your mouth off to Karofsky!" Puck practically hisses at her. "Who gave you the fucking right?"

Santana rolls her eyes again and practically snorts before shutting her locker and slinging her bag over her shoulder.

"Are you talking about you and RuPaul? Please, like I even care." Santana flips her hair over her shoulder and smirks. "Besides, I didn't have to say a word to anyone, that creepy Jacob kid did it for me."

"What?"

"It's the all over his blog." Santana rolls her eyes. "The freak's got pictures and everything. Seriously!"

She smirks again before sauntering down the hall and leaving Puck staring after her. Jacob? How the fuck did he find out?

It's not like Puck cares who knows. He's said it before and he'll say it again, he'd scream it from the rooftops , but for some reason he's pretty sure if Jacob is saying shit about him and Rachel on that stupid blog of his than it's definitely less than flattering.

"You got a laptop?" Puck grabs some poor freshman by the shirt and the poor kid looks like he's about to crap his pants. He feels a twinge of regret but really doesn't have the time to worry about that right now. "I asked you a question!" The kid nods silently and fumbles in his bag before pulling out the Apple computer. "Bring up that blog that Jacob kid does." The kid stares at him in silence for a second before quickly hitting some keys and handing the computer to him.

Holy Mother of Fuck!

There plain as day for the whole world to see was a picture of Puck and Rachel attached at the lips against a locker with the title: Mr. & Mrs. Puckerman.

Puck scrolled down further and almost fell over when he saw a copy of a Nevada Marriage Certificate with his and Rachel's names prominently pronounced. He slammed the computer shut, not even bothering to read the rest of it and glared at the poor kid who was still next to him.

"Where the fuck is that Jacob kid?"

"I…I… I think I saw him heading toward the library." The poor kid stutters and Puck makes a metal note to be nice to the kid tomorrow, just so he doesn't give him a complex or something - plus, he's pretty sure Rachel will have more than a few words to say to him when/if she ever finds out about this.

Puck stalks down the hall until he sees that stupid Jew-fro bobbing through the crowd in front of him.

"Yo! Jew-fro!"

Jacob froze when Puck's hand landed on his shoulder and the much smaller boy slowly turned to look up at him.

"Puck… well, I take it you've seen my most recent blog around Rachel." Puck scowls at the slimy smile on Jacob's face when he says Rachel's name.

"What the fuck were you doing following me and Rachel, taking pictures of us?" He practically throws the kid into an empty classroom. "Seriously, what are you flat out like stalking her now?"

"I wasn't 'stalking' anyone." Jacobs crossed his arms but Puck could see the fear in his eyes. "The two of you were practically humping in the middle of the hall. Like I was going to pass up that opportunity."

"What about the marriage certificate?" Puck's eyes narrowed and his fist clenched at his side. He's not going to lie. It's been a while since he's beaten someone up and truthfully, he's kind of itching to, so who better than Jacob Ben Israel.

"Well, after I… innocently I might add…. happened across the delectable Ms. Berry going to your house instead of her own and watching the two of you constantly maul each other, I knew there was more going on that anyone knew so I did a little digging."

"You better pray that Rachel isn't upset because if she is….you're going to wish that you were never born" Puck slammed out of the room and headed toward the choir room, knowing that that's where Rachel was going to be.

Puck turned the corner into room and froze when he saw Rachel, Tina, Quinn and Mercedes crowded around a laptop sitting on the piano. Crap.

"I take it from the expression on your face, Noah, that you've see Jacob Ben Israel's latest blog." Rachel looked up at him.

"Are you OK?" He crossed the room and Rachel moved away from the piano to meet him half way.

"I'm used to this Noah. This is tame in comparison to some of the other things that Jacob has written about me. I know that you, on the other hand, haven't been on the receiving end like this for very long so I should be asking if you're OK." Rachel's eyes searched his in that creepy/cute way that she had where Puck was sure that she was actually reading his mind.

"Babe, I'm fine with this. I already told you, I'll tell anyone who'll listen that you're mine but really, Jacob outing us on his blog didn't really seem like a way that you want to announce our happy union."

"It's out there now Noah. We just have to deal." Rachel shrugged a little before leaning up to kiss his cheek. "I'm going to stop by locker quickly before we head to lunch, OK? I'll meet you in the cafeteria."

Puck watched as Rachel walked out of the room and slowly turned to look at Tina, Mercedes and Quinn.

"OK, that looked like Rachel but that wasn't Rachel. Where was the classic Rachel Berry diva flip out?" Puck asked the three girl, half serious-half joking.

"I guess all that hot loving you've been giving her must have mellowed her big boy." Mercedes slapped his arm with a smirk and Tina giggled as the two of them headed out of the room.

"Puck, calm down." Quinn's soft voice brings him back to reality and he turns to find the pregnant girl leaning against the piano rubbing her stomach lightly. "It's not invasion of the body snatchers or anything. Rachel hasn't been possessed. I'm surprised you haven't figured it out."

Quinn smiles again and Puck stares, wondering what the hell she's talking about.

"You really don't see it, do you?" Quinn stares at him and he starts to question the blonde's sanity. "Puck, it's you. You're what's gotten in to her. In her own, slightly crude and Puck-ish way, Mercedes was right. I don't know if it was because of the 'hot loving', but you've definitely mellowed her. And she's changed you too… for the better I might add."

Quinn gives him a knowing look and Puck shrugs sheepishly. He's not so sure about him changing Rachel, but Quinn's definitely right about Rachel changing him. He knows that he's about to sound completely pussy whipped but Rachel makes him want be a better person.

"I'll see you later." Quinn gives him a small smile before leaving him alone in the choir room.

"She's right you know." Puck jumps a little and turns to see Finn standing just inside the door. "Rachel is different with you and you're different with her." Puck continues to stare in silence. "That's not to say you're not still a complete asshole most days, but , you know, at least now you're not an asshole _all_ the time."

Puck rolls his eyes. He probably should have been expecting that.

"Look, what I'm trying to say here Puck is that you and Rachel seem to have a pretty good thing going… so don't mess it up." Finn's tone suddenly changed and Puck looked at him in surprise.

Wait? What?

"Look, it was one thing when the two of you had this secret marriage that I'm sure seemed romantic or sexy or hot or whatever, but the whole school knows now and we both know that the kids at this school are not exactly accepting of anything that they consider out of the norm - and I'm pretty sure getting married your senior year in high school is anything by the norm."

"What the hell are you getting at, Hudson?" Puck bristles. What the hell was he implying? Actually Puck totally knows what he's implying but damn it, he's going to make him say it to his face.

"We've known each other our whole lives, Puck. I know you better than almost anyone" Finn slowly walked toward him. "Like Quinn said Rachel has changed you, she's helped show the world that underneath the swearing and sex with cougars there's a pretty decent person in there but I also know that what other people say about you means more than you would probably care to admit and I don't want Rachel to be a casualty of your need to protect your reputation."

"Are you serious?" Puck practically growled and Finn blinked.

"Look, I'm not saying you would do it intentionally because I'll admit that I was wrong about the two you. Like I said, I know you and I've never seen you like this with a girl. But Rachel, she's a good person and she doesn't deserve to be hurt."

God damn it, he was really getting sick and fucking tired of people thinking that he was going to bolt at the first sign of trouble.

"Fuck Finn, I'm getting tired of this shit." Puck's eyes blazed angrily. "What the fuck do I have to do to prove that I'm in this? Marry her?! Oh, Wait! I already did that!"

Finn opened his mouth to speak but Puck didn't give him the chance, he was a on a roll now and Finn Hudson was about to hear it all.

"You what sucks the most, I've actually come to expect this crap from you." Puck shook his head with a sigh and Finn at least had the decency to look guilty. He sighed again before rubbing the back of his neck and sitting down on the nearest chair.

"Besides, believe me when I tell you this, if anyone in this relationship is going to bolt when certain information becomes public knowledge, it sure as hell isn't going to be me." Puck rolled his eyes at his own lameness. Jesus, he sounded pathetic.

"Wait? What?" Finn looked beyond confused as he sat down next to Puck. "What are you talking about? Rachel's not going anywhere - she's completely crazy about you dude."

"Did you know that she got into Julliard?" Puck asks suddenly and almost laughs at expression on Finn's face. Jesus, he really was slow. "Julliard, Finn! She got into fucking Julliard and it's not like I'm not proud of her, because I am." He rubs the back of his neck again. "I'm so proud of her. I mean, shit, my girl got accepted into, like, the most prestigious performing arts school in the country…"

"And…" Finn nudges him and Puck slowly looks at his (former?) friend.

"And I am most definitely _not_ getting accepted into any kind of prestigious school…" Puck's shoulders slumped a little and for a second he couldn't help but wonder why the hell he was having this conversation with Finn at all.

"I don't think that's true, man." Puck can see Finn frowning out of the corner of his eye. Just fucking great. Now he's getting pitied by Finn Fucking Hudson. "You might not go to some fancy school like Julliard or something but that doesn't mean you're not going to college at all."

"NYU rejected me." Puck cuts him off and Finn's stares at him in shocked silence. "The letter came yesterday."

"That sucks…" Finn says after a minute. "Well, what did Rachel say when you told her?"

"She doesn't know." Puck's voice is barely audible but he knows that Finn heard him and Puck silently curses. He was probably going to run and tell Rachel right now. "Shit. Man, look I know that we're not on the best terms right now but you can't tell her OK.

"Dude, you can't keep this from her. She's gonna find out.

"I'm gonna tell her…" Puck sighs again. "I just… look she just made up with her dads and she's so excited about Julliard. She's really happy right now I don't want to ruin that for her. If I tell her, she's going to start feeling guilty and…"

"There's something else." Finn says suddenly and Puck actually a little taken aback. "There's something else going on here, spill it."

The room is silent again as Puck stares at Finn. Shit, who knew Finn could be so intuitive.

"You and a lot of other people have made it abundantly clear that no one thinks that I'm good enough for Rachel." Puck says finally. "And I'm not stupid enough to think that I am, I know I'm not. But I told her dad that I was trying to become the kind of person who was good enough for her. But it looks like you were right after all, Finn. I'm just a Lima Loser who can't even get into college."

"Dude, you got rejected from one college. That doesn't mean you're not going to get into another school."

"What school?" Puck's voice comes harsher than he had intended and Finn just stares at him. "Seriously, what other school? Lima Community College? Ohio State, if I'm lucky. She's going to Julliard, that's a hell of long way from Lima Community College."

"Maybe, but from what I've seen, I don't think…" Finn begins and Puck knows what he's going to say before he says it.

"She won't go without me?" He laughs bitterly. "Please, this is Rachel Berry. She's been planning this Julliard shit since she was like 5. Do you really think she'd walk away from all of that for me?"

"I've seen the way she looks at you, Puck. I don't think she'd walk away, I know she would." Finn looks down for a second and before looking back up. "Look, I was an idiot to you and to Rachel. I was jealous when I didn't have a right to be, for so many reasons. But I was wrong. Rachel left her parents' house for you, she's put up with all of the crap that I spewed about you and defended you every time. I'm thinking that there's probably not much she wouldn't do for you."

Finn finishes and Puck stares at him like he's freaking Yoda or something. Shit, Finn was right. Rachel did all of that for him without thinking twice and she probably would walk away from Julliard for him, but he'll never let her do that.

"Yeah, well I'm not going to let her do that." Puck took a breath before standing and heading toward the door.

"What are you going to do?" Finn asks, causing Puck to turn and look at him.

"I'm not going to let her give up her dreams for me." Puck shook his head. "I know Rachel and she'll never be able to live with it and then she'll end up hating me." Finn's silent as Puck turns completely to stare at the tall boy. "Look Finn, I know we're not a great place right now, but if 16 years of friendship ever meant anything to you and if you care about Rachel as much as you claim to, you'll keep your mouth shut. OK?"

Finn stares at him for a long moment before nodding. Puck gave him a nod in return before turning on his heel and heading toward the cafeteria to meet Rachel. So, maybe him and Finn weren't completely cool yet, but maybe this was the start they needed. Now he just had to figure out what he was going to tell Rachel.

**A/N 2 - Alright, so that was it. I hope you all enjoyed it. Initially I had planned on this chapter being strictly about the school finding out about the marriage but when I started writing it just took on a life of its own. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed. I wrote and rewrote this chapter so much. I just wasn't sure who I wanted to Puck to make his confession to. I tried it with Quinn & Kurt but neither of them really felt organic and then it hit me - Finn! But I don't know how well it turned out. I'm attempting to at least try to redeem Finn a bit... **


	16. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer - As per ususal, I own nothing. Everything belongs to Ryan Murphy & Fox. **

**Please review! :)**

**Rachel**

Rachel looks up the conversation she's having with Tina when Noah slips into the seat next to her, throwing his arm across the back of her chair and she smiles up at him.

"Sorry, I took so long." Noah mumbles and Rachel frowns as she looks at him. She knows that look on his face. She knows that it means something's wrong and she can only guess that it's because practically the entire cafeteria is staring at them.

"Are you OK?" Rachel leans closer and Puck slowly turns to look at her.

"I'm fine babe." He smiles at her but it doesn't quite reach his eyes and she knows that he's not telling her something. "I just sort of ran into Finn."

"Oh…" Rachel grimaces a little. Now it all makes sense. "How bad was it?"

"It wasn't that bad." Puck shrugs. "We actually kind of talked."

"Noah, that's wonderful!" Rachel beams but for some reason that just causes Puck's expression to cloud even more. "I would have thought that you would be more happy about possibly reconciling with your oldest friend in the world."

"Look, we talked, Berry, and just because punches weren't thrown it doesn't mean we need to celebrate. It's not like we decided to be BFF's again. We're not going to be having sleepovers any time soon." Puck snaps. It's harsh enough for the whole table to stop talking and stare at the two of them and Rachel feels her cheeks redden.

"Noah, I…" Rachel is actually shocked into silence. What's gotten into him? Where did that come from?

"Shit." Puck mutters under his breath before sighing. "Look, I'm sorry babe, it's not you, OK. I just… I got a lot of shit on my mind."

"Well, do you want to talk about it?" She lowers her voice so the others can't overhear, even though the entire table is practically breaking their necks trying to. "We could go somewhere more private."

"Thanks, but I don't think so. Look, I gotta do some stuff, alright? I'll see you Free Period." He kisses her temple quickly before abruptly leaving the table. Rachel stares after him, biting her lip nervously. Clearly, there was something really wrong. She just couldn't figure out why he was shutting her out.

**Puck**

God, he's such an asshole. Puck mutters a few choice swear words under his breath as he leaves the cafeteria. He can feel Rachel staring after him but refuses to look back at her. If he does, he knows that he'll find her watching him that look of confusion and hurt and he hates that he's the reason (once again) that she's wearing it.

_Dude, you can't keep this from her. She's gonna find out_. Finn's words repeat in his brain. He never thought he'd ever be saying this but Finn's right. Puck hates that he's keeping something like this from Rachel but he just can't tell her yet. Noah Puckerman was a badass and could deal with a lot of things - but he just doesn't think that he can handle seeing the look in the Rachel's eyes when she finally realizes that he is exactly what everyone said he was.

"Noah…" a tiny hand on Puck's arm stops him and he turns to find Rachel staring up at him with worry in her eyes. "Whatever's going on, you can talk to me. We're a team now, remember. If it's Finn or Jacob's blog, whatever it is, it can't be that bad."

Puck is quiet for a long time as he looks down at her.

"I love you, you know that right?" Puck takes a step toward her, closing the gap between them and sliding his arms around her waist. "I just need to know that you know that; that you know that I love you - more than I ever thought it was possible to love anyone."

"Noah, you're really starting to worry me." Rachel rests her hands on his chest as she looks up at him.

"Just tell me you know that." Puck practically pleads with her. If he's being honest with himself, he's not really sure why he's so insistent on this right now. He just needs to know that whatever happens, _she_ knows that he loves her,

"Of course, I know that." Rachel gives him a tiny smile before leaning up to press her lips against his. "I love you too."

Puck's eyes close for a second as he rests his forehead against hers.

"I'll see you in free period." He kisses her forehead before turning and leaving her staring after him. If he stayed any longer, Puck's pretty sure he would have blurted everything out right there.

**Rachel**

Rachel watches Noah make his way down the hall and feels tears burn her eyes. She hates that he's pushing her away like this and she especially hates that she doesn't know why. At least if she knew why she could try to fix it but the one thing she's learned in her time with Noah Puckerman was that in difficult times, his first instinct was to shut people out. She figured it had something to do with his dad - although he had certainly never admitted that to her. But it made sense. His dad had left his family when he was so long and since then, she didn't think that he had really let anyone besides his mom and sister in - and now her. Although Rachel was pretty positive that even she wasn't completely in yet. There were still times when he pulled away from her (now being a prime example of that).

"Hey Rachel." She turns to see Finn standing behind her and her brow furrows. Something must have happened when Noah spoke with Finn. That's the only explanation.

"What did you say to Noah?" Rachel's tone is accusatory and although logically she knows that she has no proof that it was Finn who did anything to contribute to Noah's current melancholy, past experience has made her weary of the tall quarterback.

"Why? Did Puck say something to you?" Finn asked immediately and Rachel stares at him. He knows something. She can see it in his face.

"No, Noah didn't say anything to me except that he talked to you and now it's clear that something is weighing heavily on him but he will not confide in me as to what that it is. The only logical explanation that I can think of is that apparently our talk did nothing to stop you from being a completely insensitive…"

"Whoa, Rachel, calm down!" Finn holds up his hands in surrender. "Look, I didn't say anything to Puck OK. We just talked. No arguing or anything… alright there was bit of arguing but it was better, I promise."

"Really?" Rachel glares at him, hands on her hips. "If that's the case, Finn, why did Noah show up looking like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders? He won't talk to me about me, which tells me that you must have said something particularly horrible to him."

"I…" Finn begins but stops, sighing as he runs his fingers through his hair. "Look, it's not my place. But you should know that all I did was tell Puck the truth."

**Puck**

Puck makes his way to the choir room and sigh a little in relief when he finds it empty. He picks up his guitar and takes a seat, strumming lightly.

"Where's the ball & chain." He looks up to find Santana leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed.

"What do you want?" Puck turns back to his guitar. What the fuck is she doing here? All he wants right now is to be left alone.

"You know Puck…" Santana slowly makes her way across the room to stand in front of him. "I have to admit that you were kind of sexy today when you were all worked up about the blog." She eyes him with a sly smile before taking the guitar out of his hands and setting it aside. "It made me think that maybe I was a bit rash in just tossing our relationship aside the way I did…"

"Our relationship?" Puck almost laughs out loud at that. "We didn't have a relationship, Santana. We had a string of one night stands thrown together."

"Oh come on. What we had was more than that." Santana edges her way even closer to him and before Puck knows what's happening Santana is suddenly straddling him and pressing herself closer to him.

"What the fuck, Lopez!" He practically throws her off of him and jumps to his feet. "Are you out of your fucking mind? I'm fucking married!"

"So…" Santana comes toward him again, eyeing him like he's some kind of prey. He seriously needs to get the fuck out there now. "She doesn't need to know. I won't tell if you won't…." She presses against him again, this time sliding her hand to cup him through his jeans.

"Oh my God!"

Puck's head shoots up at the sound of Quinn's voice and he feels like he's been punched in the stomach when he sees Rachel and Quinn standing at the door.

"Rach…" He pushes Santana away from him, trying to ignore the smug expression on her face.

"You little…" His eyes widen as Rachel stalks across the room and stands in front of him and Santana.

"Whatever, man hands, maybe if you knew how to please him, he wouldn't have had to come to me." Santana crosses her arms and smiles sweetly at Rachel and Puck is about to say something when Rachel's fist suddenly comes flying out and she clocks Santana square in the eye.

Is it wrong that he kind of found that kind of hot?

"Rach…" Puck slowly begins but he shuts up pretty quick when she turns to look at him.

"How could you do this to me?" The anger that Rachel had spewed at Santana seems to be gone and now she just looks broken. "I trusted you, Noah. I didn't listen to all of those people who told me that you were going to hurt me and I trusted you with my heart. Is this why you were acting so odd earlier? I guess I should at least be grateful that you felt guilty - clearly not guilty enough to stop you though."

Tears spill from her eyes as she looks at him and once again Puck feels like the biggest piece of shit on the planet. He almost wishes she would rant and rave and yell. He can handle that. He knows how to deal with that but crying Rachel; broken Rachel yeah, he doesn't know what to do with that.

Technically he's innocent in this situation. Shit, it's not like he came here to meet up with Santana. She found him. She hit on him but Puck knows that if he hadn't been acting so weird earlier Rachel wouldn't have been so quick to believe that he would do that.

"Baby, I didn't…" He starts but Rachel just shakes her head.

"Please stop lying to me, Noah. After everything, just stop lying to me." She stares at him for one more second before spinning around and running from the room.

"Fuck!" Puck starts to go after her but Quinn grabs his arm.

"Don't. Just let her go, Puck. You'll just make it worse." Quinn says slowly and Puck looks down at her.

"Quinn, you have to talk to her. You have to make her believe me. This isn't what it looks like, I swear. Santana came on to me. I didn't have anything to do with it. I pushed her away. I swear!" Even as the words leave his mouth, Puck can't help but think that this would be the perfect thing to push Rachel to want to leave.

If he let her believe that he was sleeping with Santana, there's no way she'd even consider not going to New York. She'd want to get as far away from him as possible. But then Rachel's face flashes through his mind. The disbelief, pain and betrayal in her eyes makes his chest feel tight. She'll hate him. If he lets her believe this, she'll hate him (if she doesn't already, that is) and suddenly he wants to vomit.

"You know, I actually believe you." Quinn speaks, bringing him out of his thoughts. "A few months ago, I would have said absolutely you were in here to hook up but I already you told you, you've changed and I don't believe that you would do this to Rachel. As for you…" The pregnant girl turns to look at Santana. "I always knew you were a bitch, but I didn't think you were this much of a bitch."

"Um, excuse me, I just got punched…" Santana points to her eye, which is already sort of starting to bruise.

"Yeah, you're lucky because I would have done a lot worse." Quinn shakes her head in disgust before turning and heading toward the door. "I think you should leave her be for a bit, Puck. But I'll see what I can do." Quinn glances over her shoulder at Puck before disappearing out of the room.

**Rachel**

Kurt finds her alone, sitting on the edge of the stage in the auditorium. She quickly brushes the tears from her face and looks up into the worried face of her friend. Unfortunately the second that Rachel's eyes meet Kurt's she breaks down crying again.

"Oh Rachel…" Kurt quickly hops up on the stage and wraps his arms around her and she cries into his shoulder. "Quinn told me what happened. Come on, let's get you out of here. You don't need to stay here. Let's get you home."

Home. Even she could go home, she didn't even know where home was anymore. Her home was supposed to be with Noah but she certainly couldn't go back to the Puckermans. Her dads' house was out because she would have to admit to her daddy that he had been right all along.

She still couldn't believe what she had witnessed. She had been so sure that Noah was the one for her, that he loved her. Unfortunately there was no getting past what she and Quinn had walked in on in the choir room.

The image was permanently burned into her brain. Another girl pressed against her husband with her hand in a place that no one besides Rachel should ever touch.

"I don't have anywhere to go." Rachel murmured before squeezing her eyes shut again as another round of tears stung them.

"Do you want me to beat him up?" Kurt asked, his tone completely serious and Rachel can't help but laugh a little.

"While I appreciate the sentiment, Kurt, if you tried Noah would pummel you with one hand." She looks at him slowly. "Besides, even if you could beat him up, violence never resolves anything."

"Really?" Kurt looks at her sceptically. "Because I heard that you wiped the floor with Santana."

Rachel flinches at the sound of the cheerleader's name and swallows hard as tears sting her eyes again.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have even brought her up. Look, what do you need? Name it."

Rachel's quiet for a long time as she ponders the question. What does she need? She needs for this to all be a dream. She needs to wake up right now with Noah's arms around her. She needs Noah.

"I want to sing." Rachel says finally, taking a deep breath and sliding off the stage. "Singing has always been the one constant that I have. It's the one thing that always makes things better." She digs through her bag before pulling out some sheet music. "Would you accompany me, Kurt?"

Rachel turns and holds the music out him. Kurt nods immediately and comes to take the sheet from her. He looks down at it for a second before looking up at her, his features confused.

"You just happened to be carrying this song around in your bag?"

"When I found out that I was accpeted to Julliard, I wanted to expand my horizons. Be more versatile. Every good performer has a wide range." Rachel looks down for a second. When she chose this song, she never in a million years thought that she would relate to it so personally.

"OK." Kurt nods with a small smile before taking her hand and pulling her toward the stage. "Come on, sing your heart out, my little diva."

**Puck**

Puck stares into the mirror and lets out a heavy sigh. God, he looked like shit. But then again, he probably should look like shit. He closes his for a second but Rachel's face flashes through his mind. Fucking Santana! The pain in Rachel's eyes is something that Puck is sure he'll never forget. Damn it! This was all his fault. If he hadn't kept the whole NYU thing from Rachel, he wouldn't have been in the choir room to begin with and then he never would have been alone with Santana. If he had just been honest with her, they wouldn't even be in this situation.

"Fuck!" He slams his hands down against the sink and the porcelain shakes a little. He had to find Rachel. OK, so Quinn said to give her some space but he couldn't do that. He couldn't just sit around and do nothing when his wife was out there with a broken heart because of him.

Quinn's waiting for him when he leaves the washroom. She's leaning against the lockers across the hall. Her eyes are cloudy with worry when she looks up at Puck and he feels his chest tighten again. Had Quinn found Rachel? Did they talk? The look on Quinn's face was exactly comforting. Fuck!

"I didn't talk to her yet." Quinn says before Puck can even open his mouth. "She's with Kurt right now in the auditorium. I promise I am going to talk to her but I just think it's best to give her some space right now."

"I can't do that, Quinn." Puck shakes his head, his jaw set. "I can't just walk away when she's going through this. I have to fix it. I have to make her understand."

"Puck, I really think…" Quinn's voice fades behind him as Puck practically runs down the hall. He pulls the door to the auditorium open and steps inside just as Kurt sits down at the piano and begins to play.

Puck swallows hard when he sees Rachel, his perfect Rachel, step into center stage. She looks down for a moment and Puck mutters a curse under his breath because he knows that she's fighting back tears. A second later she lifts her heard and takes a breath before beginning to sing.

_I remember the way you'd make love to me_

_Like I was all you'd ever need_

_Did you change your mind_

_Well I didn't change mine_

_Now here I am trying to make sense of it all_

_We were best friends now we don't even talk_

_You broke my heart_

_Ripped my world apart_

_Didn't you know how much I loved you_

_Didn't you know how much I loved you, baby_

_I gave you everything, every part of me_

_Didn't you feel it when I touched you_

_Didn't I rock you when I loved you, baby_

_Baby, tell me_

_Didn't you know how much I loved you_

_I can't get you out of my head_

_I still feel you in this bed_

_Left me all alone_

_You couldn't be more gone_

_From falling apart to fighting mad_

_From wanting you back to not giving a damn_

_I've felt it all_

_I've been to the wall_

_Didn't you know how much I loved you_

_Didn't you know how much I loved you, baby_

_I gave you everything, every part of me_

_Didn't you feel it when I touched you_

_Didn't I rock you when I loved you, baby_

_Baby, tell me_

_Didn't you know how much I loved you_

_One day justice will come and find you_

_And I'll be right there in your memory to remind you_

_Didn't you know how much I loved you_

_Didn't you know how much I loved you, baby_

_I gave you everything, every part of me_

_Didn't you feel it when I touched you_

_Didn't I rock you when I loved you, baby_

_Baby, tell me_

_Didn't you know how much I loved you_

_Didn't you know how much I loved you, baby_

_I gave you everything, every part of me_

_Didn't you feel it when I touched you_

_Didn't I rock you when I loved you, baby_

_Baby, tell me_

There are tears in Puck's eyes as Rachel finishes. She falls to her knees, sobs shaking her whole body He drops his head and turns away as Kurt hugs Rachel. All he wants to do is go down there and tell her everything is going to be OK, but right now he's not sure that they will be and it's all his fault.

**A/N - I seem to have been hit with some crazy inspiration because I couldn't stop writing. I hope you all don't completely hate me with this chapter. There is a reason for all of this I promise! Chapter 16 is about 1/2 done so that should be up in the next day or so hopefully. **

**Anyway, I hope you all liked the chapter. Please, please, please review! Also, the song that Rachel sings is "Didn't You Know How Much I Loved You" by Kellie Pickler. It was pretty much my theme song when my ex and I broke up. It makes me tear up every time I heart it so I thought it would be a fitting song for Rachel to sing in that scene. **


	17. Chapter 16

**A/N - So, all of that Puck goodness in last night's episode made me happy! Lady Is A Tramp - loved it. Puck channeling Sinatra and Co. was totally hot. Although, I actually kind of miss the mohawk - but Mark is smokin' regardless. :)**

**And, being the Puckleberry obsessed crazy person that I am, I competely squealed a little when Puck and Rachel danced with each other in the last group number!**

**Anyway, here's the next chapter. I'm hope you guys like it! Please, please, please review! **

**Rachel**

"You know that he didn't actually do anything, right?" Quinn says quietly as the two of them sit in the park that the next day.

"Quinn, you were there. You saw it with your own two eyes." Rachel shakes her head. "I want to believe him, I just can't get the image of him and Santana out of my head."

"You need to talk to him." Quinn's voice is sympathetic and Rachel slowly looks at her blonde friend. "I'm on your side here, but I believe him."

The two girls are quiet for a long time and Rachel sighs heavily as tears fill her eyes for the thousandth time. She is so tired of crying. She tells herself that its because its bad for her vocal chords and that it has _nothing_ to do with the fact that all she wants is for Noah to hold her and tell her that everything will be fine.

"Hi Quinn, Hi Rachel." Rachel looks up to find Britney smiling down at them with a very uncomfortable looking Santana standing behind her.

"Hello Britney." Rachel nods politely at the tall blonde before standing and gathering her belongings. "I apologize, Britney. I realize that this rude and please understand that this has nothing to do with you but I'm going to be leaving now as I've already had my fill of skanky whores today." She shoots Santana a scathing look and the cheerleader's eyebrows raise in surprise. She can't help but think that Noah would be proud of her - plus he thinks that its 'totally hot and badass' when she swears.

"Santana stop her." Rachel hears Britney whisper loudly.

"Rachel, wait!" Santana calls as Rachel starts to walk away but the tiny diva doesn't even hesitate. "He didn't do anything!"

That causes Rachel to stop dead in her tracks. Her breathing is shallow when she turns to look at Santana.

"I hit on him and he quite literally tossed my ass on the floor." Rachel continues to stare at the other girl in silence. "I'm a bitch, OK." Santana looks down for a second before looking back up at her. "I see the way Puck is with you and the way he reacts when people say stuff about you. He, like, defends your honour and it just pissed me off because he never once did that for me. People could call me anything and everything and he just didn't care. And if someone so much as says your name in a tone that he doesn't like, he loses his shit."

"I'm sorry, are you telling me that you threw yourself at my husband because he's protective of me?" Rachel stares at the brunette and Santana rolls her eyes. "Do you not realize what you've done? This is may be some sort of game to you Santana but this is my life that you've so carelessly tried to destroy and you don't even seem to care."

"I'm sorry OK." Santana says quietly.

"Yes, you certainly look like you're overwhelmed with remorse." Rachel says sarcastically and she can't help but think of Noah again.

"Maybe you should go talk to Puck." Britney offered and Rachel closes her eyes for a second.

"He won't forgive me." Rachel sighs, staring down at her hands. "I don't deserve it. I was so quick to believe that he would do something like that…."

"Puck is crazy about you." Quinn says encouragingly. Rachel looks at the girl next to her. "He's miserable without you. He just wants you to come home."

**Puck**

When Rachel doesn't come home for two days Puck has to fess up to his mom about _everything_. NYU, talking to Finn, Santana, the song he witnessed Rachel singing. He lays it all out on the table and stares at his mom, silently wishing that she'll have some magical answer to fix it.

"OK, first, and I'm sorry but I have to ask you this…." His mom begin slowly, staring at him intensely. "Were you doing anything with Santana?"

"No mom! God!" Puck's brow furrows. Jesus, even his mom thought that shitty of him.

"Noah, I'm sorry but given your track record, can you blame me?" His mom reaches across the table to pat his hand. "Look, clearly this is all misunderstanding and once you explain what happened to Rachel, I'm sure that she'll understand."

"Maybe this is a blessing in disguise." Puck shrugs. "Maybe we should just make a clean break. Even when I try not to, I still end up hurting her. She'd just be better off without me."

"How could you think that?" Rachel's voice startles both Puck and his mother and they look up to find his tiny wife standing in the kitchen door, clutching her sweater to her chest. "How could you ever think that I would be better off without you?"

"I'm going to let the two of you talk." His mom excuses herself and quickly leaves the room.

"What are you doing here?" Puck asks when they're alone and Rachel stares at him for a second before shrugging.

"I live here." She says finally, placing her sweater on the back on the chair and the two of them stand staring at each other. "I'm sorry."

Puck's mouth drops open in shock as the words leave her mouth. Why the hell was she apologizing to him?

"I talked to Quinn…" Rachel says slowly. "…And Santana." She grimaces a little saying her name. "She told me that she initiated everything and that you were most definitely not reciprocating…"

"Rach, I…" Puck begins but Rachel simply shakes her head and he stops talking.

"My heart was telling me that you would never do that to me…" Tear fill her eyes and she quickly brushes them away but Puck still feels like a complete asshole. He's so sick of being the reason that Rachel's crying. "But you were acting so strangely. It was like you couldn't wait to get away from me and then I find you with Santana in a… compromising position. But there's no excuse. I should have believed you when you told me that you were innocent."

Rachel looks down for a second before looking back at him.

"Please tell me that you can forgive me, Noah." Rachel practically pleads with him and Puck just shakes his head because he knows that she's not the one who needs to be apologizing.

Silently, Puck reaches over and gently brushes the tears from her cheeks. The action seems to break whatever restraint Rachel had because before he has time to react, she's launching herself into his arms.

Puck doesn't even attempt to stop the sigh of relief that escapes him when he crushes her to him and she clings to him tightly, hooking her legs around his.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Rachel whispers over and over into his ear, peppering kisses along his jaw.

"Shh…" He murmurs into her hair. "Stop apologizing." Puck pulled away to look at her. He had to tell the truth about everything.

Just as he's about to speak, Rachel crashes her lips against his hungrily and he groans, completely forgetting that they're in his kitchen and that his mom or baby sister could walk in on them at any second because he hasn't touched her or kissed her in two days and right now he doesn't care about anything except the fact that she's back in his arms.

"Well, I'm glad to see that the two of you made up." Rachel stiffens in his arms and the two of them slowly turn to find his mom standing in the door to the kitchen with an amused smile on her face.

"Ma, I…" Puck starts but his mom just holds her hand up to stop him.

"I don't want to know. I'm taking Abby over to her friends house for a sleep over and then I'm heading to work." His mother picks her keys up off the counter and pauses for a second before smiling at Rachel. "Welcome home, Rachel."

A few seconds later they hear the front door close. Puck slowly looks down at Rachel, fully expecting her to be multiple shades of red and completely mortified. Needless to say, he's pretty god damn shocked to find her laughing to herself.

"Something funny, Berry?"

"No." Rachel shakes her head. "But you know, we do have the house to ourselves, Noah…" She looks up at him with a twinkle in her eyes. "Did you maybe want to…" Rachel moves closer to him, wrapping her arms around his waist. "…go upstairs and spend a little husband and wife time together."

Puck stares at her for a second. Yes, he realizes that their problems aren't resolved and there's still a lot of shit that they need to talk about but, fuck, he's still a dude and his wife is smoking hot.

"I think that's the best suggestion I've heard all day!" Puck gives her a wicked smile before tossing her easily over his shoulder, which causes Rachel to squeal and wiggle against him in a way that makes Puck wonders if they're even going to make it to the bedroom.

**Rachel**

Rachel's not going to lie, she fully expected Noah to rip her clothes off and have his way with her the moment they enter his bedroom so she pleasantly surprised when he pulls her close and buries his face in her hair.

She shivers as he trails the tips of his finger down her spine before resting his hands lightly on her hips.

"I missed you." Puck murmurs against her lips before kissing her gently and Rachel can't help but sigh happily as she sinks into him.

"I missed you too." She clings to him, pressing herself as close him as she possibly can. Puck's mouth finds that sensitive spot on her neck that he knows drives her absolutely crazy and Rachel gasps.

Puck pulls away to look at her and Rachel feels her whole body flush under his heated gaze. The way he makes her feel is like nothing she's ever experienced before. He's like a drug and she's completely addicted to him.

Puck brushes the hair from her face before pressing his mouth against hers again but when she tries to deepen it, he pulls away and gently pushes her back onto the bed. Rachel stares up at him with wide eyes as he settles himself next to her and pulls her back into his arms and everything after that seems to be a haze.

Pucks hands grip her hips and he pulls her centre to his. Rachel can feel his arousal against her stomach and her heart pounds in her chest. It still shocks her somewhat that she has that effect on him but Rachel completely loses all train of thought when Puck's hand slides up her leg and under her skirt and his mouth captures her in searing kiss, his tongue sliding across her lips silently asking for entry, which she more than willingly gives.

Puck undresses her slowly, kissing every inch of her body as he does so and Rachel honestly thinks that she's going to lose her mind with desire. That signature smirk that she knows and loves finally makes an appearance when Rachel is lying naked and quite literally quivering beneath him.

Puck's lips find hers again and his fingers gently brush across her folds and Rachel finds herself gasping and bucking involuntarily against his hand.

"Baby, I haven't even touched you yet…" Puck's voice is husky in her ear and Rachel stares up at him, silently pleading. He smiles, kissing her again and Rachel actually cries out when he _finally_ slips one finger into her agonizingly slow.

He teases her to the brink to the point where Rachel is literally begging against his lips and Puck stares at her for a moment before kissing her deeply and reluctantly pulling away from her to shuck his jeans quickly before climbing back on top of her.

"What did I do to deserve you?" Puck murmured before pressing a soft kiss on her shoulder and Rachel shivers at his warm breath on her skin. He kissed her hard and Rachel sighed happily as her legs fell open and she could feel him brushing against her.

"Noah…" She gasped loudly as he slowly pushed forward and entered her. Her hands ran down his back and she clung to him as tightly she possibly could, burying her face in his neck and breathing in his scent. She loved his scent. It was the perfect mixture of soap and something else that was distinctly Noah.

"You are so beautiful." He pulled away to look at her and Rachel smiled as she reached up to run her fingers along his cheek bone. Puck locked his gaze with her as he slowly began to move in her. Sex with Noah has always been amazing but there's something different about this time. This time is more intense than anything they've ever shared.

The muscles on Puck's back tense under her hands and Rachel knows his body well enough to know that he's close. She lets out a tiny cry as each thrust becomes a little harder and when he reaches his hand down and gently brushes his fingers across her sensitive nub, she completely loses herself and feels fireworks explode as Puck sends her over the edge, his own orgasm following close behind and he collapses on top of her.

They stay that way for a long time before Puck slowly pushes himself off of her and Rachel instantly feels a little empty. Puck falls onto the bed next to her, immediately pulling her flush against him and burying his face in her neck.

"I love you." His voice is barely a whispers. Rachel lets out a contented sigh and settles back against him. "I'm sorry babe, for all of that shit that happened with Santana…." He murmurs into her hair and she looks up at him with a confused expression.

"Noah, you shouldn't be apologizing. Santana made me doubt what I knew in my heart to be true…" Rachel reaches up to touch his face. "I should have trusted you."

"I've given you more than enough reasons not to." Puck gives her a sad smile and Rachel frowns before shaking her head vehemently. She hates that he thinks so little of himself and she hates even more than she doubted him like that.

"That is who you _used_ to be." She tells him quietly but firmly. "You have been nothing but completely honest with me and I should have believed you."

**Puck**

Puck stares down into Rachel's brown eyes and he can't help but wonder when it was exactly that this girl in front him became so important to him. It was way before they ever got drunk in Vegas, he knows that for sure. It was like one day, when he wasn't looking, she wormed her way under his skin and now he can't imagine living his life without her.

"I haven't been completely honest with you…" Puck sighs, running his hand over his Mohawk and Rachel eyes widen in surprise. He closes his eyes for a second and kisses her forehead.

"What do you mean?" Rachel squeaks out and Puck opens his eyes to look at her. She looks… well, scared is the only word that comes to mind that seems appropriate.

"There's something that I didn't tell you…" Puck sighs heavily, looking away for a second. "Baby, you know how proud of you am I, right? With Julliard and all of that stuff, I mean, shit, you're going to be a star."

"Noah, what's doing on?" Rachel slowly sits up, pulling sheet up around her chest as she looks at him and Puck can't help but think that she's never looked sexier than she does right now with her hair messed and her lips still swollen.

"I applied to NYU…" He begins slowly and cringes a little when he sees Rachel's face completely light up. "They didn't accept me Rachel."

Puck looks away when Rachel frowns. He doesn't want to see the disappointment on her face.

"OK…" Rachel's voice comes out very calm and Puck looks over at her to find her staring at her lap deep in thought.

"Looks like everyone was right after all…" Puck mutters a few swear words under his breath and Rachel's head shoots up to look at him.

"No one was right about anything!" Rachel tells him seriously, with that look of determination in her eyes that Puck knows all too well.

"Rachel, you're going to Julliard and I'm…"

"You're my husband. You are the person that I am going to spend my life with." Rachel takes his face in her hands and kisses him deeply before pulling away. "Is this why you were acting so odd? Did you think I'd be disappointed in you? That I would suddenly decide that I didn't want to be married to you anymore?"

"Rachel, you've got a future and I just don't want you hold you back…" Puck looks away and running his hand through his strip of hair.

"Noah, haven't you figured this out yet?" Rachel moves to climb into his lap, straddling him and Puck looks up at her. "You could never hold me back. I don't have a future without you. You _are_ my future."

"But…" Puck stares at her, conflicted. He wants to believe her. He wants nothing more than to wrap his arms around her and lose him in Rachel.

"You have to trust in us, Noah. We'll figure this out. We always do."


	18. Chapter 17

**A/N - Hey Guys! Sorry for the delay in getting this chapter up but I think it turned out OK. Please ignore the typos. I edited this _late_ last night and probably missed alot of stuff. I hope you like it. Please review.**

**Disclaimer - I own nothing. **

**Puck**

"Who the fuck is banging on the door at 7 a.m. on a Saturday morning?" Puck grumbled and moved closer to Rachel as the knocking on the door became more persistent.

"Language Noah." Rachel chastised him, her voice still thick with sleep and Puck couldn't help but roll his eyes. "It would probably be prudent for you to answer it though. It might be your mother. She may have forgotten her house key."

Puck's eyes slowly open and he stares at the back of her head. He should answer it? He opened his mouth to tell her that she lived here too and had two perfectly working (and hot as hell) legs and if she wanted to answer the door so bad, she could haul her cute little ass out of bed and do it herself. Of course, he doesn't actually say any of that because Rachel turns her head to look at him with pitiful eyes and he feels his resolve start to crack. _Resolve! Ha! What resolve! You are so whipped! _

(Puck really, really, really hates that Kurt fucking Hummel is still kicking around his head, but that's a whole thing that he just doesn't want to get into right now because the mere thought makes his head hurt)

"Fine!" He threw the covers off and climbed out of bed.

"Thank you Noah." Rachel smiled. "I need proper rest in order to make sure that my vocal chords are always at their top quality. So really, you're helping to advance my career as well as our future…"

"You know what would probably help your vocal chords? Not talking so much." He rolls his eyes and turns to leave but he sees her send him a mock glare and smile before settling back under the covers.

He's half way down the stairs when he realizes that she didn't have a shit fit after his crack about her talking too much and Puck smirks to himself. He kind of likes the fact that they've reached that level of comfort in their relationship to tease each other like that (plus, she'd never admit it but he knows it gets her just a little bit hot sometimes when he reverts back to his badass ways).

The knocking on the front door has gotten completely out of control by the time he swings the thing open and Puck is ready to give whoever is on the other side a piece of his mind.

Needless to say the last person he expected to find on his front step was Quinn Fabray, chewing on her bottom lip in a very Rachel-like way (those two were really spending way too much time together).

"Fabray?" Puck stares at her, the confusion's got to be pretty damn obvious on his face and Quinn shuffles her feet, looking almost anywhere but at him.

"Um, hi Puck. I know it's early but is Rachel up?" Quinn finally looks at him. OK, so Puck may not understand much when it comes to a chick's mind but he does know that the look on Quinn's face means that something _big_ is up.

"Ugh… yeah… sure…" He moves out of the way and Quinn slowly steps inside, rubbing small circles over her stomach and taking a deep breath before slowly letting it out.

"Shit… you're not like having the baby or something are you?" Puck blanches at the thought of Quinn pushing out little Drizzle in the middle of his living room.

(Oh, and Drizzle? Yeah, Puck wasn't even touching that one because, seriously, what the hell was Finn smoking when he came up with that?)

"What? No!" Quinn stares at him like he's a complete moron. "If you really want to know, Puck, I have indigestion and I'm slightly constipated. Happy?"

Shit, he did _not_ need to know that.

"I'll get Rachel." Puck throws the pregnant girl a look before heading up the stairs. Well, the good news was that he could go back to sleep while Rachel dealt with crazy preggers downstairs. He can't help but smirk again when he slips into their bedroom and finds Rachel dead to the world.

"Rach…" He shook her lightly but she didn't budge. "Rachel, wake up!"

"Noah, as wonderful as morning sex with you would be right now, I very much need just another hour of sleep. Could you entertain yourself until then? Think about my lilac lace set. You love that set." Rachel mumbles, rolling away from him to face the wall.

Puck stared at his wife in shocked silence. No, really, he's pretty sure that his mouth is hanging open like he's Cletus the Slack-jawed Yokel or something. But, he's not completely sure because all he can focus on is the fact that he's pretty positive Rachel just told him to go jerk off while thinking about her in lingerie and he's also pretty sure that that probably shouldn't have turned him on as much as it did.

_Good Lord Puckerman! Focus! There's a pregnant girl in your living room! _Kurt's voice booms in his head. Well it's really more of a shrill because, you know, this is Kurt but whatever it gets the job done because Puck snaps out of it. Quinn, right, Quinn.

"As great as that sounds, babe…" Puck leans down to whisper in her ear and she shivers involuntarily (a fact that he totally loves). "Quinn is downstairs and she wants to talk to you."

Rachel's eyes fly open at the sound of Quinn's name and Puck literally has to jump out of the way as she flings the covers off and jumps out of bed. Berry was like a line backer when she was on a mission and he definitely wasn't getting in her way.

He falls back onto the bed and watches her pull on her clothes.

"Nite babe." He settles back against the pillows and Rachel stood over him, hands on her hips.

"Are you really going back to sleep when our friend is downstairs, clearly in need of our help." Rachel shakes her head. "I'm surprised at you, Noah. After everything that Quinn has done for us…"

"God, fine!" Puck heaved a sigh as he climbed out of bed _again_. "I thought guilt was only for Catholics?" He grumbles and Rachel laughs a little before pecking his lips and pulling him out of the room.

**Rachel**

Quinn is sitting in the living room, staring at her hands when she and Puck make there way downstairs.

"Quinn?" The blonde looks up as the two of them enter and Rachel frowns at the dark circles under Quinn's eyes and she can't help but wonder if the former cheerleader slept at all last night - she certainly hoped so because while she may not a be a OBGYN, Rachel was rather certain that no sleep couldn't be good for the baby.

"Noah, could you make Quinn some tea?" She turns to Puck, who glances at Quinn quickly before nodding and heading toward the kitchen. Rachel waits until he's out of the room before looking back at her friend.

She slowly crosses the room to sit next to Quinn on the couch. The two girls are quiet for a moment and Rachel just stares at Quinn out of the corner of her eye. She doesn't want to push Quinn into talking about whatever drove her to their doorstep so early in the morning but clearly _something _had happened and Rachel's first instinct was to jump in and try to make it better.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Rachel asked quietly and Quinn continued to stare at her hands for another few moments before slowly turning to look at Rachel.

"Finn and I broke up.' Quinn says quietly and Rachel's eyes widen just a tiny bit. "Late last night, this morning… I don't even know."

"Hudson broke up with you?" The two girls look up to see Puck standing over them holding a two mugs full of steaming liquid. "That sucks Fabray."

Puck hands Quinn one mug before holding the other one out to Rachel (and Rachel was pretty sure she fell in love with him all over again when she sipped the coffee).

"It's his loss." Puck says as he takes a seat across from them and both girls look at him.

"Thanks Puck." Quinn sends him a small smile. Puck shrugs uncomfortably and Rachel can't help but smile up at her husband because the look on Quinn's face tells her that _it's his loss_ was exactly what she needed to hear.

"Would you like Noah to his impressive physical strength to teach Finn a lesson?" Rachel asks seriously and she's a little taken aback when both Puck and Quinn stare at her as though she has a second head.

"Uhhh… babe…" Puck begins after exchanging a look with Quinn. "I know that in Rachel-talk you just said I was a badass who could kick Finn's ass and you're totally right, I totally could, but, um, why the hell are you asking Quinn if she wants me to beat Finn up? I thought 'violence was never the answer'?"

Rachel rolls her eyes a little at the term 'Rachel-talk'. Sometimes she wonders about him, because honestly it's not like she's speaking another language.

"Normally, I would adhere to that sentiment. But these are not normal conditions, Noah." Rachel says, glancing at Quinn and the blonde is staring at her in total confusion. "Quinn is our friend and clearly our conversation with Finn did not have the desired effect because he continues to treat the mother of his child with such disrespect. So, I have decided that seeing as my method of diplomacy did not work, it seems only fair that we try your standard approach to handling this. At the very least…."

"Rachel, stop." Quinn cuts her off and lays her hand over Rachel's. "You've got it all wrong. Finn didn't dump me or anything. We mutually decided that it would be best for both of us to stop seeing each other."

"Oh…" Rachel pauses for a second and she can see Puck smirking across the room.

"I love that you automatically went to beating people up." He nods approvingly and Rachel rolls her eyes and looks to Quinn for support but Quinn is chuckling quietly to herself. _Traitors _is all that Rachel can think as she stares at the two of them.

"Well, clearly I've spending too much time with you." Rachel glares playfully in his direction.

"Please, you know can't get enough of this, woman." Puck motions toward himself and flashes her another smirk (her pulse is not, she repeats _not,_ racing at the mere sight of it).

"Noah, please don't call me 'woman'. I have a name…."

"You two are like comedy act." Quinn interrupts their banter and Rachel looks at her friend to find her laughing fully. "Seriously, thanks. I really needed that." Quinn looks at her for a second before smiling. "Rach, I really appreciate you offering your husband to beat up my ex-boyfriend, who currently has a wicked bad for thing for you and is said husband's former best friend…"

Quinn breaks off for a second and the three of them stare at each other.

"Wow, we have a really messed up little circle going on here." Puck says as he and Quinn start to laugh and even Rachel finds herself chuckling because he does have a point.

"Anyway, thank you but there's no need. Finn didn't 'dump his pregnant girlfriend'. We decided together that we just don't work as a couple anymore." Quinn gives Rachel a sad smile. "I mean, yeah, we're having this baby but I don't want someone to be with me just because of that and I don't want to be with someone because of that."

Rachel frowns a little as she looks at the pregnant girl sitting next to her and she can't but feel at least partially responsible.

"This isn't your fault." Quinn says kindly, almost like she could hear Rachel's thoughts.

"Quinn's right." Puck nods crossing the room to sit next to her. "It's not your fault babe."

Rachel smiles a little when he presses a kiss on her temple but frowns again when sadness flashes behind Quinn's eyes.

"Fabray?" Rachel is not surprised when it's Puck who offers Quinn comfort first. He pretends to be a 'badass' but she knows that deep downs he's a big softy (she doesn't even want to think about what she'd have to sit through if he ever heard her say that about him). She watches her husband with a smile as he hesitates for less than a second before moving to sit on the other side of Quinn and pulls the blonde into a hug.

The action seems to break the hold that Quinn had on her emotions and she bursts into tears, clinging to Puck's shirt.

"Just because it was the right thing to do, it doesn't mean it doesn't suck." Rachel hears Puck whisper and Quinn nods silently into his chest.

The two of them are quiet as Quinn lets out all of the emotions she clearly had been holding back for quite a long time. When Puck slowly lifts his eyes to meet Rachel's eyes, she knows beyond any possible shadow of a doubt that she is the luckiest girl in Lima, Ohio.

"I'm sorry, you guys." Quinn sniffles as she wipes her eyes and looks down in embarrassment. "I don't know where that came from."

"You and Finn were together a long time." Rachel says gently, reaching for her hand. "And he's your baby's father, it's natural for you to be upset."

"Yeah…" Quinn nods slowly. "Honestly, though, I'm more concerned about finding a new place to live."

"Wait, what?" Puck suddenly snaps to attention. "That doesn't make any sense. There's no way that Mrs. H would kick you out."

"She didn't." Quinn tells them quickly. "Mrs. Hudson said that I could stay for as long as I wanted but I just don't feel comfortable staying there anymore."

"What about your parents? Do you think…" Rachel begins but Quinn shakes her head.

"My dad just won't…" Quinn blinks back tears and Rachel immediately regrets ever bringing up the Fabrays. "I don't know what I'll do… I guess I could ask Santana or Britney…"

"Wait, I have an idea, Quinn."

**Puck**

Puck should have known that Rachel's 'great idea' would end up with him spending the rest of his weekend lugging Quinn Fabray's shit out of Finn's house and over to Rachel's dads.

That was Rachel's plan. She jumped from the couch with that crazed look in her eyes that she sometimes gets (hey, _he_ may think it's cute but that doesn't make it any less crazy) and the next thing he knows she's hanging up the phone informing Quinn that, if she wants to, her fathers would be more than happy to open their home to her.

That was how he ended up here, lugging boxes and suitcases with Finn, Mike & Matt. It's not like he really minds because, you know, Fabray's alright and she's been pretty decent to him and Rachel.

The drive from the Hudson house to the Berry house _alone_ with Finn was awkward to say the least because what the hell are you supposed to say to your (ex) best friend who clearly has the hots for your wife and just helped you move his pregnant ex-girlfriend out of his house and into your wife's parents' house. Jesus, they really do have one messed up little situation going on here - his head hurts just thinking about it.

Puck had tried to tell Rachel that him and Finn alone for any extended period time was not a good idea but Rachel just smiled and told him that he had to work this out with his friend.

"So, you told Rachel about NYU." Finn finally breaks the ice and Puck glances at him quickly before nodding.

"Yeah. I had to you know, she deserved that much…" They're both silent for a few seconds. "Thanks for not saying anything to her. I mean, you totally could have used this to your advantage… hell, if the roles were reversed I probably would have."

"Actually, I don't think you would have." Finn says and Puck glances at him. "The old you probably would have, but not now. I was wrong man, when I said that you were going to hurt her and you didn't deserve her. You're not the person you used to be Puck."

"Jesus, can we stop with the Hallmark moments here before we both grow vaginas?" He immediately reverts back to his asshole tendencies because, you know, feelings and shit, not exactly his thing. But regardless of all the shit that's happened, Finn's still his boy and 16 years of friendship means he knows Puck pretty well so he just cracks a smile before nodding and shutting the hell up.

"So, what the hell happened with you a Fabray?" Puck asks after a few minutes (seriously, what the fuck? Why did he bring this up? Rachel's turning him into a woman). "You know, besides the obvious thing of you having some serious wood for my wife." He throws look at Finn that says he's half joking, but half serious and Finn looks away.

"I can't blame her for wanting to leave. I was a pretty awful boyfriend. I mean, I'm the reason she's in this situation, you know. She's pregnant, her parent's kicked her out and I'm out flipping my shit because of some other girl - my best friend's girl at that…." Finn trails off and Puck just looks away uncomfortably. "Truthfully, I'm a little surprised it took her this long."

They pull into the Berry driveway behind Rachel, Quinn, Matt and Mike. There's not much talking after that as the four guys lug Quinn's things into the house and into the spare room that is now Quinn's.

"Jesus, Fabray, what the hell do you have in here?" Puck as he lifted a box from the back on his truck.

"No one's forcing you to be here, Puck." Quinn stuck her tongue out at him and Puck rolled his eyes.

"Actually, she's forcing me to be here." He jerks his head in Rachel's direction as they all make their way into the house. "If I don't move your crap, there's no chance in hell of me getting any tonight and I really need to get some tonig…."

The words die in his throat when both of Rachel's fathers appear in front of him and Puck kind of wishes that the floor would open up and swallow him because, you know, Rachel's dads made have sort of accepted his relationship with her but talking about sexing up their daughter in their house, probably not kosher.

"Nice." Finn slapped his shoulder. Puck gives him a look and the other boy laughs as he and Quinn make their way up the stairs.

"Um, Mr. Berry…" Puck glances at Rachel, who is absolutely _no_ help because she's covering her face and shaking her head.

"Noah, please don't." Andrew Berry begins. "I mean, you two are married, so it shouldn't exactly surprise us that the two of you are having sex…"

"Oh My God! We are not having this conversation." Rachel grabs Puck's hand and pulls him up the stairs before he can protest. For a second, he thinks that he hears Rachel's fathers laughing in the living room.

"Honestly, Noah, could you refrain from referencing our sex life at my fathers' home." Rachel swats at his arm as they turn the corner into Quinn's new room. Finn, Matt & Mike are lounging on the floor as Quinn moves slowly around unpacking.

"I think that's just karma finally biting you in the ass." Quinn gives Puck a cheeky grin.

"Oh, hey, Quinn, your welcome for moving the ton of shit you seem to have accumulated." Puck says sarcastically.

"I thought that the only reason you were here is so you could 'get some' tonight." Quinn said with a smirk, crossing her arms and Puck just looked at her and slowly shook his head. Preggers could hold her own, he had to give her that.

"Can we _please_ stop talking about this!" Matt suddenly jumped to his feet. "Seriously, I really don't want to think about you and Rachel having sex."

"Whatever Shaft." Puck sends him a grin. "You know you want this."

Pick winked in Matt's direction and the whole room erupted into laughter when Matt shuddered and his eyes widened.

"Great, now I'm pretty picturing…. You Suck, Man!" Matt glared at him before storming out of the room.

"Thanks. That was the funniest thing I've seen all day." Mike grins. "We'll wait for you outside dude." Mike slaps Finn's shoulder before giving Puck, Rachel and Quinn a wave and following after Matt.

"So, um, I guess I'll head out." Finn says when the four of them are left alone and he slowly looks at Quinn. "You'll let me know if you need anything right?"

"Of course." Quinn nods with a smile. "This is the best thing for everyone, Finn."

"I guess." Finn nods and slowly kisses Quinn's cheek.

Puck glances at Rachel and is relieved to see that she looks as uncomfortable as he feels.

"Um, so listen…" Finn turns to Puck. "Matt, Mike and I were gonna grab some pizza, maybe play some PS2 or something… you know, if you wanted to come."

Finn shuffled his feet and looked away. Puck's about to ask him how he's enjoying his new vagina when Rachel pipes up.

"He'd love to." Rachel's beaming from ear to ear and Puck looks at her.

Why the hell is she grinning like that? He knows that look in her eyes. It's the look at says she's up to something - he can practically hear the wheels turning in her head.

"Um, babe, I thought that we were…" Puck starts but Rachel cuts him off, shaking her head.

"Nope, I'm staying here to help Quinn unpack and you are going to do boy things with your _friends_."

The emphasis she puts on the words 'friends' and the pointed look she gives him makes Puck frown. He knows what she's trying to do and, honestly, he does love her for it but one afternoon moving boxes and playing video games isn't going to magically fix his friendship with Finn.

"You have to start somewhere, Noah." Rachel whispers as she wraps her arms around his neck and leans up to kiss him.

"Fine." Puck rolled his eyes. "But I'm doing this for you and you're definitely making this up to me tonight…" He murmurs in her ear and Rachel rolls her eyes this time.

"Go. Have fun." Rachel presses a kiss against his lips before pushing him toward Finn with that mega watt smile of hers and Finn gives them both an odd look before turning and heading out the door with Puck following behind.

"She really wants us to be friends again, huh?" Finn looks at Puck as they make their way down the stairs.

Puck says goodbye to Rachel's fathers and he and Finn make their way out to his truck. They're both silent as they climb in and follow Mike and Matt, who are driving in Matt's car.

"I am sorry, Puck. I fucked up." Finn says and Puck grips the steering wheel. "I know, I know, _how's my vagina_ but I don't care dude. You're my best friend and I… I miss you…"

"Dude, we're not doing this." Puck holds his hand up. Both of them are silent for a few minutes before Puck sighs a little. "Just, you know, whatever… me too."


	19. Chapter 18

**A/N - so first things first, I own nothing. No copyright infringement intended. It's all just in good fun.**

**OK, now, so I'm sure I probably have no readers left and I would completely understand if that was the case. I'm so sorry I haven't been updating but I just went through a really bad dry patch over the last few months. I'm not sure I'm completely out of it but I sat down and forced myself to write this chapter. It might not even be any good but I think it turned out OK, even if it's a little short. Please excuse any typos, I didn't proof read it that well. Anyway, if you feel like reviewing please do so - the more reviews I get the more inspired I'll get to write (yes, I'm trying to blackmail you all into reviewing - LOL). **

**Puck**

"OK, so I've been doing some research and I've compiled a list of schools in New York and the surrounding areas that I think would be very complimentary to you." Puck looks up from the board game he's playing with Abby when Rachel comes flying into the kitchen, waving a stack of papers in his face. Rachel pauses for a second when she sees Abby and smiles. "Hi Abby, I'm sorry to interrupt your game with Noah, however this is very important."

"That's OK Rachel." Abby shrugs. "The game was kind of boring anyway. Noah's too easy to beat. I'm going to go read…"

Rachel smiles as Puck's sister skips out of the room but quickly turns back to him, taking Abby's seat at the table and pushing the board game gently to the side.

"Now here is the list of schools that are relatively close to Julliard.". Rachel slides two sheet of paper across the table toward him. "The second page lists schools that are a bit of a distance, but I don't think that should be a problem because we can always find an apartment in the middle, equal distance from both schools." She reaches into her bag and pulls out to stacks of brochures and setting them on the table. "This stack…" Rachel lays her hand on the first batch. "are schools that accept late applications, which means that if you like one or more than one of them, you can apply now and still be able to start classes in the fall."

"Ugh… Rach…" Puck begins but Rachel just keeps on going as though he hadn't said a word.

"The second stack are schools that unfortunately you have missed the cut off for registration for this semester, but if one of them seems of particular interest to you, you can always apply for the Winter semester. We can still go to New York in the fall and you can work for a few months before starting classes in January." Rachel takes a breath and looks up at him expectantly, eyes wide.

Puck is completely silent as he stares at all of the information in front of him. He couldn't believe that she had put so much effort into this. Granted he certainly shouldn't be surprised but still, she had done all this for him.

"Noah…" Rachel's voice brings Puck out of his thoughts and he looks up to find her watching him. "What do you think?"

"I think that I've got one hell of an awesome wife." Puck reaches out and takes her hand, pulling her gently into his lap and wrapping an arm around her waist. "I can't believe you did all this. When did you have time to do this?" Puck presses a kiss into her neck.

"I made the time." Rachel smiles shyly before shrugging. "This is our future." She touches his cheek gently and Puck can't resist the urge to lean forward to kiss her firmly on the mouth.

"Thank you, babe." Puck rests his forehead against her for a second, silently thanking whatever God was up there for letting him have her, before slowly turning to look at the documents in front of him. "Jesus, Berry, this is a lot, I think you're going to have to walk me through this."

**Rachel**

They spend hours pouring over university and college brochures. She watches with a smile as Noah's face lights up at the ones he particularly likes. She's never seen him so focused on anything before (well, at least nothing that involved them being fully clothed)

"What do you think about this one, babe?" He holds a brochure up and she looks down at it. _City University of New York. _"I think, that one could be pretty good. Or maybe the City College of New York."

"Yeah, I think it's great." Rachel flips through the brochure. This one had stuck out for her as well when she researching. It seemed to have the type of atmosphere that she was sure Noah would thrive in. Puck winks at her before turning back to the brochures in front of him. She watches him for a second, still smiling, and without thinking leans over to kiss him firmly on the mouth.

"Well, not that I mind, but what was that for?" Puck looks at her with a smirk and Rachel just shrugs. "Come 'ere…" He grabs her hand and pulls her into his lap again. "I love you, you know that right?" He whispers into her hair and Rachel can't stop the heat from rising to her cheeks as she nods. "I can't thank you enough for this. You're my god send."

"Noah, there is nothing that I wouldn't do for you." She strokes his cheek gently with a smile. "Besides, it's in situations like this that my obsessive nature comes in handy." She grins when Puck lets out a chuckle and pulls her closer.

"I can think of a few other times when your obsessive nature comes in handy…" He murmurs against her lips before capturing them with his and Rachel feels her whole body start to tingle. Noah Puckerman was going to be death of her, she was sure of it. But right now, she can't think of better way she'd like to go.

"Um, what's going on in here?" They both look up to find Puck's mom standing in the doorway, watching them warily. "Honestly, you two, Abby's in the next room…" She shakes her head and Rachel's feels her face burn. Honestly, how many times was Noah's mother going to catch them in a compromising position. Granted, Sarah seemed to take the whole thing in stride, but still Rachel was certain that her mother-in-law was going to start thinking she was some sort of nymphomaniac (if she didn't already).

"What's all this?" Sarah Puckerman crosses the room to look down at the brochures on the table. "Colleges?" Puck's mother looks up with a surprised, but happy look on her face.

"Um, yes, Noah and I were researching some possible schools for him to attend in New York." Rachel quickly removed herself from Noah's lap, purposefully ignoring the pout on his face as she faced his mother. "There a few schools that seem to have peaked Noah's interest…"

"That's wonderful." Puck's mom beamed before hugging him tightly. "I'm proud of you. Well, I'm going to let the two of you get back to it. I have to take Abby to her friend's for a sleepover anyway. You two will let me know if you need anything, right?"

"Of course." Rachel nodded with a smile and glanced at Noah, who was looking around uncomfortably.

"My baby going to New York for university." Sarah beamed at Puck again before turning and leaving.

"You're mother is certainly excited." Rachel says with a smile when they're alone. Noah nods, sitting back down.

"I know. I'm trying not to get ahead of myself, but damn it's contagious, you know. Just the thought of it…" He looks over at her with a smile and Rachel feels her heart skip a bit. That smile could make her do almost anything. He holds his hand out to her and Rachel eagerly returns to his lap, smiling as his arm snakes around her waist. "I actually think this is going to happen…." Puck pauses for a moment before looking up at her. "And it's all because of you, babe."


	20. Chapter 19 Epilogue

**A/N - Hey guys, I am so sorry for the delay in updating. But here it is, the next and final chapter of Waking Up In Vegas. I didn't realize that this would be the final chapter until I read xoxoshortie92xoxo2's review. I always knew that this was the way I wanted to end the story, I just didn't really know how to get there. Then when I read that review, I realized that I didn't have any more story to tell for Rachel and Puck (at least at that point in their lives). I should thank shortie92 for that cuz realzing the story was done, inspired me to finally write the epilogue. I hope you enjoy it. I hope you all have enjoyed the story as a whole. Thank you for sticking with it for so long. Your support and kind words have meant alot. Please review, I'd love to hear what you all think. As always, I own nothing. **

**Cheers :)**

**Rachel**

Rachel smiled as she looked around the room. It had taken them awhile but she and Noah had finally gotten married properly. The ceremony had gone off without a hitch. Her fathers had given her away like she and they had always pictured. Noah's smile as she walked down the aisle well she doesn't think she'll ever forget it. It had been the best day of her life and now, as Noah so eloquently put it, they were partying it up Puckleberry Style. She smiled again as her eyes landed on Noah, who was talking adamantly about something with Mike and Mr. Shuester, or Will as he insisted they call him after they all graduated. She smiled again when Noah looked up and caught her eye, giving her a wink that sent tingles through her body even after all this time. The last few years had changed him, but in a good way. He looked more mature. Long gone was the mo-hawk (she'd coerced him into shaving that thing off their first week in New York) but he still smirked in that annoyingly sexy way that makes her weak in the knees and he still looked at her like she was the best and most important part of his world.

They had been through a lot to get here. There had been ups and down, financial struggles, fights and those awful three days when Noah stayed with Kurt after a one particularly nasty fight. She doesn't even remember exactly what the fight was about, all she really remembers is the two of them screaming at each other, her telling him to leave and Noah storming out. Her stomach turns at the memory. Those had been the worst three days of her life and Rachel had been certain that she had lost him forever. So, when Noah turned up on their doorstep looking as miserable as she felt, all she could do was throw herself towards him and apologize over and over. To this day, she wonders what she would have done if he hadn't come back to her and if she's honest, she really doesn't know.

College had been an adjustment for them - new city, new schools, new friends. And there were times when she was sure that Noah wanted to pack the whole thing in, but he didn't. He had pushed through and she was proud of him for that. The day Noah graduated from college had probably been the proudest day of her life. She had cheered as loud as she could when his name was called and she knows that he had never looked more handsome then he did that day with his head held high, diploma in hand (well except for maybe today).

Smiling again, Rachel leaned back in her seat at the head table, content. Sure, her life wasn't exactly like she had imagined, but that was OK. She was glad things hadn't worked out according to her plan because if they had she and Noah wouldn't be here today. She's lucky to have found him, she knew that at 18 and she knows that now. She's still neurotic and obsessive and at least three times a week, she hears Noah mutter 'crazy' under his breath, but she wouldn't change a thing because he completes her. Staring down at her engagement ring, Rachel couldn't stop from grinning as she remembered Noah giving it to her 6 months earlier.

"_Take a walk with me." Noah whispered, pulling her away from the party Mr. Shuester and Ms. Pillsbury had thrown at their cabin in honour of everyone being home. It was the first time in years that all of the original members of New Directions had been back in Lima at the same time. _

"_It's a beautiful night isn't it?" Rachel sighed happily as Noah's arm tightened around her and she stared out at the lake in front of her. She could hear the party going back at the cabin and she smiled again. It was nice, all of them being together again. _

"_You're beautiful." Noah's voice in her ear brought her back to reality and she turned to look up at him, frowning when she saw the look on his face. She recognized that look all too well. _

"_Noah Puckerman, if you think that I am having sex with you out here…" _

"_Hey, I'm trying to be romantic here, Berry! Can you just let me do this?" Puck growled playfully and Rachel couldn't help but laugh as she held her hands up in surrender. Noah was quiet for a moment before looking back at her. "Seriously, Rach, you're the best thing that has ever happened to me and these last 5 years have been the best of my life and I couldn't have done half of the stuff that I did without you. So I guess what I'm trying to say here is that I love you, Rachel, more than I could ever put into words."_

_Before Rachel could respond, Puck pulled her close and buried his face in her hair. All of the thoughts in Rachel's head were gone as she sunk into his embrace and his breath tickled her skin._

"_Rachel, will you marry me?" His voice was barely a whisper and for a second Rachel's not even sure she heard him correctly. He pulls away to look at her and she suddenly feels like she's back in Vegas, pressed against that wall. "Marry me, properly this time. I want us to get married here in Lima, at our synagogue, with all of our friends and family." _

"_Noah…" Tears fill her eyes as she begins to speak. _

"_When we decided to do this, I made a promise to be the kind of man who deserved you and I promised myself that I was going to give you everything that you ever wanted… and I want to start with this." He pauses for a second and pulls a small velvet box out of his pocket. "This is the ring that I should have given you in the first place." _

_He slowly opens the box and Rachel stares down at the simple but beautiful diamond ring inside and the tears that she's been fighting finally break free and fall down her cheeks._

"_Noah, it's beautiful." She whispered through the tears as Noah slipped the ring on her left hand and kissed her sweetly on the lips._

"_So, what do you say?" Noah pulled away to look down at her with a smile. "Do you wanna get married, Berry?"_

Quinn's hand on her shoulder causes Rachel to jump and she looks up with a smile as her blonde friend sits down next to her.

"The ceremony was beautiful."

"It was, wasn't it." Rachel nods. "Thank you being here today and for being my Maid of Honour." Rachel reaches for Quinn's hand, squeezing it lightly.

"Please, Rach. You and Puck are my best friends. Like it was even an option for me not to be here." Quinn hugs her gently. "Although, I think Kurt was a little miffed you didn't ask him." Quinn gives her a knowing look and Rachel can't help but laugh.

"Somehow I don't think Kurt could pull off that dress." Rachel makes a face and the two friends laugh again before looking back across the room to where Puck is now dancing with Quinn's 5 year old daughter, Alicia.

"She really does adore her Uncle Puck." Quinn says and Rachel nods, her heart swelling at the sight of Noah with their god daughter. Watching them together reminds her of the way Noah used to be Abby. Of course Abby's a teenager now, but she still thinks that world revolves around her big brother and Noah, for his part, seems to get more overprotective of her with every passing year.

"Have you told him yet?" Kurt appears out of what seems like nowhere and both girls jump.

"No, not yet." Rachel gives him a hard look, which causes Quinn to smile and soon Rachel finds a smile quirking across her lips as well. "I'm just waiting for the right moment."

"Fine. But I want front row seats when you do, because this is going to be epic. I'm off. You both look beautiful by the way, my darlings." Kurt seems to be gone as quickly as he arrived and Rachel can't help but think that he hasn't changed much since high school. But she's glad for that, because she wouldn't have Kurt any other way.

"Well, um, I have some news…" Quinn says where their alone and Rachel watches her maid of honour closely. She knows that look on Quinn's face too well. "I didn't want to say anything before the ceremony because, well, I didn't want to, you know, steal your thunder or anything…" Quinn trails off but the grin that she's struggling to hide is inching it's way across her face.

"Please, Noah and I have been married for almost 6 years. It's kind of hard to steal our thunder. Spill now." Rachel says seriously, her mind working overtime to try and figure out what Quinn is about to tell her.

"OK…" Quinn bit her lip in excitement as she held up her left hand.

"Oh My God!" The sound of Rachel's squeal causes some people to look at them but she couldn't care less as she threw her arms around Quinn. "It's beautiful." Rachel pulled away to examine the ring. "When?"

"Thank you." Quinn smiled, gazing down at the ring. "And to answer your question, last night after the rehearsal dinner. Out of blue he just popped the question." Tears sparkled in Quinn's eyes and Rachel leaned over to hug her again.

"Well, it most definitely was not out of no where, Quinn. That boy has been crazy about you since senior year. I always knew it was only a matter of time."

"I think the only time I've ever been this happy was the day Alicia was born." Both Quinn and Rachel both look over to where Quinn's new fiancé was talking to Mercedes and Kurt.

"Come on, I want to say congratulations." Rachel pulled Quinn to her feet and across the room.

"Hey Rachel, congratulations again. The ceremony…" Rachel cut him off by hugging him tightly. "I take it Quinn told you." Artie smiled in Quinn's direction and Rachel couldn't stop herself from smiling at the adoration in his eyes.

"You're engaged?" Kurt's eyes widened as he grabbed Quinn's hand. "Ah, I can't wait to plan another wedding!"

"Wonderful, another six months of flowers and cakes and dresses." Kurt's boyfriend, Blaine, piped up with a grin and Kurt sent him a look as the other's laughed.

"Hey Mister, you knew what you were signing up for. You love me, you love all of me."

"I know, babe. I know." Blaine shook his head with a smile and Kurt just rolled his eyes as Puck arrived with Finn and Alicia.

"Noah, look, isn't it fantastic?" Rachel quickly grabbed Quinn's hand, holding it up for her husband.

"Nice! You finally did it - about time Artie." Puck grinned at his friend before hugging Quinn quickly. "Congrats Fabray."

"Thanks Puck." Quinn smiled but Rachel was simply staring at her husband in shock.

"You knew?" She stared at him with wide eyes, hands on her hips. She couldn't believe he knew. Puck was silent for a second as he looked at her before shrugging.

"Yeah, me and Hudson helped him pick out the ring." Puck jerked his head in Finn's direction.

"How could you not tell me?" Rachel crossed her arms in a huff and felt her frustration rise when Noah looked at her with an amused expression.

"Because, babe, Artie wanted it to be surprise and you can't keep that pretty little mouth of yours shut." Noah slid his arm around her waist when she started to protest and silenced her with a peck on the lips. "All I'm going to say is Vegas babe. You told Quinn like 5 seconds after we agreed not to tell anyone."

"I…" Rachel glanced around sheepishly. OK, maybe he had a point. But still…

"I'm going to steal my wife for a dance." Puck suddenly spoke up, taking her hand and pulling her away from the group. "Congrats again guys."

"Still mad at me?" He pulled her into his arms gently and Rachel couldn't stop herself from smiling.

"No, I guess you're probably right - there's no way I would have been able to keep that a secret." Rachel rolled her eyes when Puck smirked but her whole body tingled when his lips captured hers.

**Puck**

"Excuse me, everyone." Kurt's voice echoed through the hall a little while later as he stepped up to the microphone. "For those of you who don't know me, my name is Kurt Hummel, the planner of the fabulous event that you are currently attending."

Puck rolled his eyes with a chuckle as the room laughed.

"Anyway, as a gift, Rachel and Puck's oldest friends have prepared a special treat for them." Kurt continued and Puck glanced at Rachel, who simply shrugged. "After your first, rather impromptu, wedding we performed a little number for the two of you, so in keeping with that tradition the founding members of New Directions, minus the two of you of course, have prepared a little something. Guys…" Kurt nodded to the others and Puck watched as Quinn, Artie, Finn, Tina, Mike, Mercedes, Brittany, Santana and Matt all joined Kurt on the dance floor.

"When were trying to decided what song to sing, all we really knew was that we wanted something that was fitting for the two of you and we think that this song describes your relationship perfectly." Quinn smiled at Puck and Rachel. "Congratulations, you two. We love you."

Puck looked down at Rachel, who was grinning from ear to ear, as the music began to play and Kurt began to sing.

_You're a falling star. __You're the get away car.  
__You're the line in the sand when I go too far.  
You're the swimming pool, on an August day.  
You're the perfect thing to say. _

_And you play it coy but it's kinda cute  
When you smile at me you know exactly what you do.  
Baby don't pretend that you don't know it's true, 'cause you can see it when I look at you._

Finn grinned at the couple as he stepped forward to sing and Puck couldn't help but chuckle, because that boy still had no rhythm whatsoever.

_And in this crazy life, and through these crazy times  
It's you, it's you, you make me sing.  
You're every line, you're every word, you're everything._

Quinn and Artie took the next verse and by this time, Rachel practically bouncing out of her skin next to him.

_You're a carousel, you're a wishing well.  
And you light me up, when you ring my bell.  
You're a mystery, you're from outer space.  
You're every minute of my everyday._

Kurt and Quinn pulled them to the dance floor and they joined their friends for the last part of the song.

_And I can't believe,  
Ah that I'm your man  
And I get to kiss you baby just because I can.  
Whatever comes our way, ah we'll see it through.  
And you know that's what our love can do._

_La, la, la, la, la, la, la_

_So, la, la, la, la, la, la, la_

_And in this crazy life, and through these crazy times.  
It's you, it's you, you make me sing.  
You're every line, you're every word, you're everything.  
You're every song and I sing along.  
'Cause you're my everything._

_So, la, la, la, la, la, la, la_

_So, la, la, la, la, la, la, la_

The room broke out in applause when they finished. Puck watches Rachel laugh and dance with Kurt and he can't help but think of how far they've come since the last time their friends did this for them. He'd be lying if he said the last 6 years have been easy. They haven't. He and Rachel have struggled but in the end he wouldn't change a single moment. She's it for him. He knew that at 18 and he's even more sure of that now. And he's happy that he was able to give her this day. She'd never admit it to him, but he knows that she regrets not having her dads at their wedding. He regretted it too, not having his mom and sister there. So, the day she graduated from Julliard, the first day of the rest of their lives, he decided that he was going to give her the wedding that she deserved. And clearly it was a good decision because he's sure that she's never looked more beautiful than she did today walking down the aisle with her fathers.

The night goes by quickly and the room is slowly clearing out. Quinn and Artie have said goodnight and headed home with a sleeping Alicia. Will and Emma had left not long after them to relieve the sitter (it had taken a while, but those two had finally gotten their act together). Kurt and Blaine had headed back to their hotel room, with the promise that the four of them would have dinner when Puck and Rachel got back to New York. Finn and Tina (yes, Finn and Tina - Puck didn't see that one coming either) were pretty wrapped up in each other and it looked to Puck that some slutty wedding sex was going to happen tonight. Puck smirked before turning back to the conversation at hand. Rachel, Mike, Matt, Mercedes, Brittany and Santana were all laughing.

"Man, Santana, you were a bitch!" Mike shook his head in the Latina's direction and San dropped her head in embarrassment.

"Come on guys, that was so long ago. And I apologized. Matt!" Santana shot her boyfriend a look and Puck had to laugh at the alarmed look on Matt's face. It was nice to know that some things never changed.

"Yes, you did apologize Santana." Rachel piped up with a smile as she patted the other brunette's hand.

"See, Rachel and I are cool." Santana looked around the table triumphantly. "Right Rach?"

"Yes, we are cool." Rachel glanced at him and Puck laughed at the expression on her face, which was pretty close to 'why are we friends with these people again'.

"Ooh, I love this song!" Brittany suddenly spoke up and everyone chuckled when they heard Britney Spears playing. "Let's dance!" She pulled the others from the table and out to the dance floor.

"Come on babe, let's dance." Puck held his hand out to Rachel who smile and took it before standing but resisted when he started to lead her to the dance floor. "Rach?"

"Take a walk with me?" She peered up at him and Puck felt his skip a beat. How was it possible that she was still able to do that to him? He nodded and followed silently as she led him outside away from the party.

"Babe, what's up?" Puck asked when they were alone and Rachel looked up at him.

"I just want you to know that you have made me so happy." Rachel leaned forward to kiss him before glancing down at her engagement ring. "Do you remember what you said the night you gave this to me?"

Puck stared down at her for a second. Of course he remembered.

"I said that the last 5 years had been the best of my life and that I couldn't have done half the things I did without you." Puck's voice was low as he spoke and he moved closer to Rachel, linking his arms loosely around her waist. "I meant that Rach."

"I know you did." Rachel smiled. "They've been the best of my life too…" She trailed off and Puck watched her closely.

"Baby, what's going on here? Talk to me." He raised her chin so he could look in her eyes. "You know that I wouldn't change a single moment that you and I have spent together, right?"

"I know. I feel the same way." She smiled again. "But, Noah, how would feel about having to share that with another person?" Puck looked at her confused for a second as she stared at him with wide eyes and gently placed her hand on her stomach and suddenly the realization hit him.

"Holy Shit… are you?" He felt his pulse quicken as she nodded and Puck felt his whole body go into shock. "Seriously?"

"Yes, seriously." She bit her lip nervously and Puck's heart felt like it was about to pound out of his chest. He felt tears fill his eyes and his eyes landed on her flat stomach. His son or daughter was in there. "Noah, please tell me those happy tears…"

He looked up to find Rachel watching him nervously and before she has a chance to say anything else, he's crashing his lips against hers, kissing her hungrily. She was having his baby.

"We're having a baby?" He doesn't even bother to fight the tears as he stares at his wife.

"Yeah, we're having a baby." Rachel smiles up at him with watery eyes and all Puck can do is stare down at her before placing his hand on her stomach.

"This is pretty much the best day of my life Berry." He kisses her again and Rachel snuggles closer to him, resting her head on his chest as he tightens his arms around her and he smiles when he hears her whisper.

"Noah, how many times am I going to have to tell you, it's Puckerman now."


End file.
